Documentary
From New York City to the farmlands of the Midwest, there are 50,000 Chinese restaurants in the U.S., yet one dish in particular has conquered the American culinary landscape with a force befitting its military moniker—“General Tso’s Chicken.” But who was General Tso and how did this dish become so ubiquitous? Ian Cheney’s delightfully insightful documentary charts the history of Chinese Americans through the surprising origins of this sticky, sweet, just-spicy-enough dish that we’ve adopted as our own.
MOVIE COMMENTS
SIMILAR MOVIES
Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story
Planet Food: Malaysia
We Feed the World
Seeds of Change
Planet Food: Lebanon
Planet Food: Japan
How To Smell A Rose: A Visit with Ricky Leacock at his Farm in Normandy
Crazy Legs Conti: Zen and the Art of Competitive Eating
The Botany of Desire
Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain
The Game Changers
Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret
Gluten, the public enemy?
Food Matters
Ramen Heads
Food, Inc.
Heston's Marvellous Menu Back to the Noughties
Breaking Bread
The God of Ramen
Soul
SIMILAR MOVIES
Just Eat It: A Food Waste Story
IMDB 6.8 | Apr , 2014
We all love food. As a society, we devour countless cooking shows, culinary magazines and foodie blogs. So how could we possibly be throwing nearly 50% of it in the trash? Filmmakers and food lovers Jen and Grant dive into the issue of waste from farm, through retail, all the way to the back of their own fridge. After catching a glimpse of the billions of dollars of good food that is tossed each year in North America, they pledge to quit grocery shopping and survive only on discarded food. What they find is truly shocking.Planet Food: Malaysia
IMDB 7 | Feb , 2012
Malaysia's multiculturalism is unrivaled throughout Southeast Asia and is reflected in its cuisine. Roving foodie Merrilees Parker begins her journey on the Malaysian peninsula with the native Orang Asli people of Kelantan She then heads off to the stunning Islamic East coast to cook a rich curry using freshly caught mackerel. In the ancient spice capital of Melaka, Merrilees cooks up a storm with fiery Laksa soup in the style of the Nyonya. In the Cameron Highlands, 5,000 feet above sea level, there is a notable English influence. The island of Penang is Merilees' next stop then she visits the capital, Kuala Lumpur, one of the fastest growing cities in Southeast Asia.We Feed the World
IMDB 7.3 | Sep , 2005
A documentary that exposes the shocking truths behind industrial food production and food wastage, focusing on fishing, livestock and crop farming. A must-see for anyone interested in the true cost of the food on their plate.Seeds of Change
IMDB 10 | Jul , 2023
An organic farmer in Maine sets out to transform the prison food system. Seeds of Change captures the intersecting stories of life-long farmer Mark McBrine and several incarcerated men as they harvest their own meals from a five-acre prison garden unlike any other.Planet Food: Lebanon
IMDB 7 | Jan , 2014
For centuries, the ports of Lebanon dominated the trade routes between Europe, the Middle East, China and India. In this documentary, our intrepid gastronaut Merrilees Parker finds a world of heavily spiced lamb, cooling salads, deliciously strong wines from and sweet pastries filled with pistachios and honey.Planet Food: Japan
IMDB 7 | Feb , 2012
Merrilees Parker travels to Japan to learn about its unique food culture. She begins her journey in Tokyo, at Tsukiji, the world's biggest fish market. Master chef, Romeo teaches her how to make the ultimate sushi, an art that takes years to master. Then it's off to a ramen museum, where you can try various regional styles of the noodle soup. Escaping the city, Merrilees takes the bullet train to Matsusaka where she visits a farm that produces the most expensive beef in the world. She also visits Kyoto and Mount Fuji for the annual Summer Fire Festival to gorge herself on wonderful street food.How To Smell A Rose: A Visit with Ricky Leacock at his Farm in Normandy
IMDB 5 | Aug , 2014
In the year 2000, Les Blank, along with co-filmmaker Gina Leibrecht, visited Richard Leacock (1921-2011) at his farm in Normandy, France and recorded conversations with him about his life, his work, and his other passion: cooking! With the flair of a seasoned raconteur, Leacock recounts key moments in his seventy years as a filmmaker and the innovations that he, D.A. Pennebaker, Albert Maysles and others invented that revolutionized documentary filmmaking, and explores the mystery of creativity. With the passing of both Blank and Leacock, the documentary is a moving insight into the lives of two seminal figures in the history of film.Crazy Legs Conti: Zen and the Art of Competitive Eating
IMDB 7.5 | May , 2004
Crazy Legs Conti is an eccentric New York window washer, nude model and sperm donor, and huge fan of the annual July 4th hot dog eating competition. When he casually breaks the world oyster eating record in New Orleans, he decides to dedicate himself to fulfilling his lifelong dream of becoming a professional competitive eater.The Botany of Desire
IMDB 6.4 | Oct , 2009
Featuring Michael Pollan and based on his best-selling book, this special takes viewers on an exploration of the human relationship with the plant world — seen from the plants' point of view. Narrated by Frances McDormand, the program shows how four familiar species — the apple, the tulip, marijuana and the potato — evolved to satisfy our yearnings for sweetness, beauty, intoxication.Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain
IMDB 6.9 | Jul , 2021
An intimate, behind-the-scenes look at how an anonymous chef became a world-renowned cultural icon. This unflinching look at Anthony Bourdain reverberates with his presence, in his own voice and in the way he indelibly impacted the world around him.The Game Changers
IMDB 7.3 | Sep , 2019
From the UFC Octagon in Las Vegas and the anthropology lab at Dartmouth, to a strongman gym in Berlin and the bushlands of Zimbabwe, the world is introduced to elite athletes, special ops soldiers, visionary scientists, cultural icons, and everyday heroes—each on a mission to create a seismic shift in the way we eat and live.Cowspiracy: The Sustainability Secret
IMDB 7.7 | Jul , 2014
Follow the shocking, yet humorous, journey of an aspiring environmentalist, as he daringly seeks to find the real solution to the most pressing environmental issues and true path to sustainability.Gluten, the public enemy?
IMDB 8 | Jun , 2020
Why wheat, one of the staple food of humanity, is becoming a poison for a growing number of people today ? An investigation on the emergence of a new gluten-free products market. And yet, the real cause of this sudden tsunami of grain intolerance remains a mystery. How come all of a sudden, many of us no longer support cereal, highly nutritious in protein? Have recent changes in our eating habits triggered the epidemic? Is wheat not the good old grain we've been eating for 10,000 years? Scientists, activists and committed farmers are trying to uncover the truth on the real qualities of industrial foods.Food Matters
IMDB 6.6 | Oct , 2010
With nutritionally-depleted foods, chemical additives and our tendency to rely upon pharmaceutical drugs to treat what's wrong with our malnourished bodies, it's no wonder that modern society is getting sicker. Food Matters sets about uncovering the trillion dollar worldwide sickness industry and gives people some scientifically verifiable solutions for curing disease naturally.Ramen Heads
IMDB 6.6 | Nov , 2017
In Ramen Heads, Osamu Tomita, Japan's reigning king of ramen, takes us deep into his world, revealing every single step of his obsessive approach to creating the perfect soup and noodles, and his relentless search for the highest-quality ingredients.Food, Inc.
IMDB 7.3 | Sep , 2008
Documentary filmmaker Robert Kenner examines how mammoth corporations have taken over all aspects of the food chain in the United States, from the farms where our food is grown to the chain restaurants and supermarkets where it's sold. Narrated by author and activist Eric Schlosser, the film features interviews with average Americans about their dietary habits, commentary from food experts like Michael Pollan and unsettling footage shot inside large-scale animal processing plants.Heston's Marvellous Menu Back to the Noughties
IMDB 0 | Dec , 2019
In this nostalgic documentary, restaurant critic Giles Coren challenges Heston Blumenthal to take his restaurant The Fat Duck back to 2001 for a magical feast.Breaking Bread
IMDB 10 | Feb , 2022
In Breaking Bread, exotic cuisine and a side of politics are on the menu. Dr. Nof Atamna-Ismaeel - the first Muslim Arab to win Israel's MasterChef - is on a quest to make a social change through food. And so, she founded the A-sham Arabic Food Festival in Haifa. There, pairs of Arab and Jewish chefs collaborate on mouthwatering dishes like kishek (a Syrian yogurt soup), and qatayef (a dessert typically served during Ramadan), as we savor the taste of hope and discover the food of their region free from political and religious boundaries.The God of Ramen
IMDB 7.1 | Jun , 2013
Every day, people would queue for over two hours for a bowl of ramen. What’s the celebrated chef’s secret ingredient? There is no secret ingredient. In fact, as most fans of Taishoken believe, it’s the charisma of owner Kazuo Yamagishi that attracted people from all around Japan to his modest shop. His personality and love for his craft, combined with a precise mélange of flavours, combined to create perfection in each ramen bowl. This heart-warming documentary is not just for noodle fans, but for anyone who loves to be inspired by passionate people.Soul
IMDB 4.5 | Jul , 2017
Soul explores the secrets of gastronomy where two cuisines apparently so opposite in their philosophy, conception and experience, have both earned the highest culinary recognition, three Michelin stars.