Devour! Opening Gala Film Tampopo curated by Tomson Highway w/winner of the Nourish NS Food & Film Challenge – IN PERSON

Venerated playwright and musician Tomson Highway has chosen Tampopo as his favourite food film of all time. It’s the tale of an eccentric band of culinary ronin who guide the widow of a noodle shop owner on her quest for the perfect recipe. Following the screening, longtime festival host Bob Blumer will host an in-person conversation with Tomson Highway about music, travel, food, and life in the business.

On this special evening, we will also screen and award the youth winner of the Nourish Nova Scotia Food & Film Challenge, where we invited children and youth of all ages to make a short film about Food for a Brighter Future. The winner will receive a $500.00 prize from Nourish Nova Scotia to support a healthy eating program or initiative in their school/community, as well as $500.00 in equipment from CBC. To enter a film in the competition, click here.

Ticket Price: $25.00

Sponsored by: CBC Atlantic

If you’re unable to join us in person, you can host your own screening at home by renting it on iTunes or YouTube and stream the live interview with Tomson Highway following the film. 

Tomson Highway

Tomson Highway was born in a snowbank on the Manitoba/Nunavut border to a family of nomadic caribou hunters. He was raised off-reserve, in the spectacularly beautiful natural landscape that is Canada’s subarctic. He had the great privilege of growing up in two languages, neither of which were French or English; but Cree, his mother tongue, and Dene, the language of the neighbouring nation—a people with whom they roamed and hunted. 

Following an education where he earned both a Bachelor of Music and the equivalent of a Bachelor of Arts with an English major, he spent seven years immersed in the field of Native social work. He then combined his education and training, and poured himself into writing. 

Today, Tomson enjoys an international career as playwright, novelist, pianist, composer, and songwriter. Tomson is best known for universal hits such as The Rez Sisters, Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing, Rose, Ernestine Shuswap Gets her Trout, and the best-selling novel Kiss of the Fur Queen. He has also published a number of children’s books, namely Caribou Song, Dragon Fly Kites, and Fox on the Ice. His work has been translated into 11 languages. 

For many years, Tomson was Artistic Director of Canada’s premiere aboriginal theatre company, Toronto-based Native Earth Performing Arts, from which has emerged an entire generation of playwrights and theatre artists. 

Tomson is the recipient of 10  honorary doctorates and is a member of the Order of Canada. His awards and nominations include Dora Mavor Moore Awards, Governor General’s Literary Award, Floyd S. Chalmers Canadian Play Award, Toronto Arts Award, and National Aboriginal Achievement Award. 

Fluent in Cree, French, and English, he continues to write, teach, lecture, and perform across Canada and around the world.

Bob Blumer

Gastronaut, author, and 8x Guinness World Record holder Bob Blumer is best known as the creator and host of Food Network’s award-winning shows Surreal Gourmet, Glutton for Punishment, and World’s Weirdest Restaurants. He has written seven cookbooks—transforming ordinary ingredients into wow-inspiring dishes through simple cooking methods and whimsical presentations that have become his culinary trademark. The Globe and Mail called his most recent book, Flavorbomb: a rogue guide to making everything taste better, “a crash course in becoming a better, bolder cook.” Bob is a long-term ambassador for Second Harvest, a perishable food bank, and an ambassador for Love Food/Hate Waste, a national Canadian zero-waste initiative. Bob documents his love of food, travel and Wolfville on Instagram. You can stalk him @bobblumer.

In keeping with Nova Scotia provincial health regulations and a desire to keep all our guests safe and healthy, Devour! will require proof of full Covid-19 vaccine immunization along with a valid photo ID upon entry to all events with no exceptions. For all Devour! Covid Protocols, please visit our website.