On the cusp of the 2018 Prairie Grid Dinner Series, it was announced that Proud To Be Prairie, a documentary filmed during the inaugural series in fall of 2017, will make its national debut at Devour! The Food Film Fest on October 27 in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Shot by director JR Reid, the short film chronicles the eight-day adventure that five chefs go on across Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba while doing four pop-up dinners in Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon and Winnipeg.
It features insights from different producers and culinary experts, such as CBC Radio restaurant critic Twyla Campbell as well as the series' collaborating chefs Jamie Harling (Deane House, Calgary), Lindsay Porter (London Local, Edmonton), Christie Peters (The Hollows and Primal, Saskatoon), Pamela Kirkpatrick (Forth, Winnipeg) and Adam Donnelly (Segovia, Winnipeg).
"Prairie Grid really reinforced to me that creative industries have this fantastic ability to collaborate and work together," explains Pamela Kirkpatrick of Winnipeg. "Our shared love of our respective homes and the foods that we grow and create there was something that ties us all together, no matter where each of us were from."
"This series was a unique opportunity to collaborate with some of the country's best chefs, but also to showcase the great Prairie region of Canada," says Calgary's Jamie Harling, echoing Kirkpatrick's sentiments. "From the great ingredients and beauty of the region to the kindness of the people we met and worked with along the way, it was truly an honour to be a part of this adventure last fall."
Proud To Be Prairie will share the theatre limelight on Saturday, October 27, screening before with the feature documentary Funke and its talented filmmaker JR Reid says he happy to be returning to the festival again this year with another interesting culinary documentary.
"I had no idea there was such as emerging food scene growing in cities like Saskatoon and Winnipeg," Reid admits, happily. "I was especially blown away by Christie Peters from The Hollows. Her, Kyle Michael and their team are canning fresh local produce, using locally milled flour, foraged berries, and even using their fat trimmings to make soap. They're like the Noma of the Prairies."
