Celebrating 15 Years of Devour! The Food Film Fest: Milestones & Memories – Part 2
In Part 1, Michael and Lia shared how Devour! was born. Now, in Part 2 of our anniversary Q&A, we dig into the milestones that made the festival what it is today—along with the unforgettable moments that told them Devour! had “made it.”
Q1: Was there a moment you knew Devour! had “made it”?
Lia: For me, it was the Anthony Bourdain moment. Years in the making, it was stressful, not the smoothest endeavour, but suddenly we had everyone’s attention—from a USA Today article asking, “Why is Bourdain going to Nova Scotia?!” to every chef and restaurateur in Atlantic Canada lining up to cook for him.
Michael: I agree. That was seminal. Another unforgettable memory was sitting iconic French chef Jacques Pépin and beloved Canadian actor Gordon Pinsent together at a dinner—they got along famously and even sketched portraits of each other at the table.
Q2: Looking back over 15 years, what are some of the most significant milestones for Devour!?
Michael: Over the past 15 years, we’ve welcomed over 99,000 attendees from across North America, served more than 75,000 plates, screened 750+ films and featured 525 local Atlantic Canadian restaurants, food producers, and beverage purveyors. Our Great Devour! Community Chicken Supper, which supports regional food banks, has helped serve between 8,000 and 10,000 meals since its inception, thanks to the support of the Nova Scotia Chicken Farmers Association. We’ve had over 750 NSCC students and dozens from George Brown and PICA get hands-on experience chopping, peeling, and cooking throughout the festival. These young chefs have become an essential part of the Devour! family.
Lia: From a film perspective, I am proud of how Devour! has become a platform for filmmakers to have deeper conversations about food, including sustainability, culture, resilience, and discovery. We are lucky to have repeat local and international alum filmmakers who screen their films at our Festival and host panel sessions to help inspire the next generations of filmmakers. To this day, one of my favourite films is That’s My Jazz by Nova Scotian, Academy Award-winning Ben Proudfoot. He comes back every few years, as do other filmmakers like Nova Scotia award-winning director, writer, actress Leanne Melissa Bishop, Calgary-based filmmaker Vicki Van Chau, James Beard Foundation Nominee Kevin Kossowan, LA-based director, producer, writer, Pete Ferreiro, to the two-time James Beard Award-winning documentary series and production company The Perennial Plate. Janet Hawkwood is a former lead instructor of the Screen Arts Program at the Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) has also been instrumental in inspiring the next generation of filmmakers here locally.
Q3: Can you share a “pinch-me” moment from the festival?
Lia: We once screened a film in 2014 called The Path of Stone Soup, about a community of Mexicans who fished and then cooked their catch with hot rocks on the riverside for their village. The filmmaker and a group of Mexicans from the film successfully launched a Kickstarter campaign to travel to Nova Scotia. They arrived with suitcases of rocks, much to the chagrin of the local health inspector. We screened the film (everyone was moved), and then following, we had them set up to serve their stone soup at our food truck rally. Everyone poured out of the theatre and cried at the sight of them cooking. It was pretty impactful. They were here for the week, and none of them had ever seen snow, so that happened that year too!
Michael: The year that Jacques Pepin came, I don’t know if he understood where he was coming. It’s rural NS after all. We hosted our Chefs and Shorts Gala at Lightfoot and Wolfville. He met several sponsors in an upstairs room prior to dinner. When it was time for our event, we walked Jacques and producer Peter Stein down to the barrel room. I vividly remember when Jacques turned the corner after walking into the room and went “Ooh La La!” I think he was uber impressed that rural NS could put on such a glorious and sophisticated event. Many thanks to Lightfoot and Phil that night and to the entire team. We’ve enjoyed a great relationship with Jacques over the years, thanks to that night.
Q4. Any celebrity encounters that turned into lifelong friendships?
Lia: Bill Pullman, Jacques Pépin, Bob Blumer, Gordon Pinsent (in memoriam), how lucky are we? Bill Pullman brought his series, The Sinner, here after his trip to Devour!, and he texts us at Christmas. Jacques Pépin has done one Devour in NS, one in Sonoma, two in Long Beach and came for a day on a cruise ship in Halifax to hang out. We’ve had some memorable moments together, both working and personally. Bob Blumer has attended 7-8 festivals as a host and has hosted us in Los Angeles at his home four times. He has travelled to join us at Toronto events. Gordon Pinsent – God rest his sweet soul. I knew him for years at the Atlantic Film Festival. He and his daughter came together to Devour, and it remains a very special moment in time- there is a video that CBC got him to read the recipe for NS Hodge Podge, which I love.
In Part 3, we’ll talk about the people—chefs, partners, volunteers, and friends—who have been essential to Devour!’s story
