Food

Callum:  Hello, I’m Callum Robertson and this is Entertainment. Our topic today isfilms and film festivals. You may have heard of the Venice Film Festival andthe Cannes Film Festival, glamorous 1 occasions with A-list celebrities 2 from themovie world turning out to promote their latest projects. A festival you mightnot know is the Portobello Film Festival which is currently taking place inPortobello an area of West London. It’s had its own independent film festivalfor a number of years and to learn more about it I spoke 3 to the festival’sdirector Jonathan Barnett. I first asked him when and how it started.
　　Jonathan BarnettWell it started in 1996 because even back in those days there were people making very lowbudget films often using video equipment and there wasn’t really anywhere for them to showtheir films so we thought it would be nice to provide a platform for these filmmakers. We hadthe mad idea at the time of showing every film that was submitted and we also decided 4 not tocharge because I suppose at heart we weren’t rabid capitalists.
　　Callum:  It started in 1996 as a way of giving independent filmmakers somewhere toshow their films. As Jonathan said, to give them a platform. These films hedescribed as low-budget films which means they were made without verymuch money. He also talked about their policy on which films to show in thefestival. He uses the word submitted, the past participle of the verb ‘to submit’.
　　In this case it means to send in. People send in or submit films to the festivalorganisers hoping they will be part of the festival. Which films does Jonathansay they show and how much do the filmmakers have to pay to submit theirfilms? Listen again.
　　Jonathan BarnettWe had the mad idea at the time of showing every film that was submitted and we alsodecided not to charge because I suppose at heart we weren’t rabid capitalists.
　　Callum:  Jonathan says that they show every film that is submitted. They also decidednot to charge. So it’s free for filmmakers to submit their films and it’s also freefor people to go and see the films during the. This he describes as a ‘mad idea’
　　but he explains it by saying that they are not ‘rabid capitalists’ which meansthey are not doing it to make money. After hearing this I wondered just howmany films are being shown and where they do get the money from to run thefestival. Listen out for that information. How many films are being shown andhow do they manage to pay for it? He mentions some sources of funding fromdifferent organisations, but what else does he mention is a financial support?
　　Jonathan BarnettThis year we’re showing 700 films. The money comes in from funding, we get money frompeople like Film London and the Arts Council and also we get a lot of ‘in kind’ support fromsponsors. So we don’t have to pay for advertising 5, we don’t have to pay for launch parties, wedon’t have to pay for prizes.
　　Callum:  700 films are being shown this year and as well as receiving money fromdifferent arts and local organisations the festival gets ‘in kind’ support fromsponsors. This means that sponsors of the festival get publicity 6 from theirinvolvement with it and therefore don’t charge for the goods and services theyprovide.
　　Over the first three weeks of August 700 films are being shown as part of thePortobello Film Festival. What kind of films can be seen? Are they just shortstudent films or does the festival attract big names as well? Here’s festivaldirector Jonathan Barnett.
　　Jonathan BarnettThe actual films we’re showing are a lot better than anything you’ll see mostly on the tele orin the multiplexes and it’s everything from student films and we also get stuff from topfilmmakers like, for instance, John Malkovich. So I think because we’re a festival that has areputation for a certain amount of integrity and also being a little bit out on a limb we attractthe big names as well as people who are just starting out. The first year of the festival we hadGuy Ritchie’s first film which was called the Hard Case, which was fantastic, it’s exactly thesame as Lock Stock and Snatch but he was kind of formulating 7 his ideas and it was a shortfilm.
　　Callum:  Jonathan believes there is a very high quality of films from ne　　Yvonne:  In the past, English food has often been described as boring and tasteless. Buttimes have certainly changed and now many restaurants, particularly inLondon, serve interesting dishes – and people enjoy cooking delicious mealsfor their friends. So now, English food is officially delicious – or is it?
　　I'm Yvonne Archer 8 and you're listening to Entertainment frombbclearningenglish.com!
　　Digby Anderson was Director of Britain's Social Affairs Unit which looks atissues affecting society and at how individuals can be more responsible. Buthe's now retired 9 and has just written a book called “The English at Table” inwhich he expresses some very strong opinions. Digby thinks English food isawful because we're “lazy and ignorant” – we don't enough about food or muchelse. So what do English people eat? Which five places does Digby say wehave to look in to find out?
　　INSERTIf you want to know what the English eat, you don't look at high quality restaurants. Ninetyseven per cent of English people don't go to them anyway. What you look at is what they eatin airports, on the streets, in hospitals where the food is vile 10, in schools where we now knowthe food is awful… Anywhere - especially in the home, because they still eat in the home.
　　Yvonne:  So according to Digby Anderson, if we want to know what English people eat,it's not worth looking in what he calls 'high quality restaurants' – restaurantswhere the best food is served – because 97% of us don't go to them. Hmmm,I'm not sure that many of my friends would agree.
　　INSERTWhat you look at is what they eat in airports, on the streets, in hospitals - where the food isvile - in schools, where we now know the food is awful. Anywhere - especially in the homebecause they still eat in the home.
　　Yvonne:  Airports, on the streets, in hospitals, in schools and at home are all placeswhere English people can be found eating. But did you notice the adjectiveDigby used to describe English hospital food? He said it's 'vile' – it's so terriblethat it's sickening.
　　Of course, food outside the home can be vile and unhealthy – and that's whythere's nothing better than a home-cooked meal eaten around the family table.
　　But is this always the case? Where does Digby think most English families eattheir meals - and who does he say does most of the cooking?
　　INSERTThey don't of course eat at tables - 40% don't have a table to eat off. They eat off sofas wherethe food goes mostly down the back of the sofa and they don't eat together at home. Thepeople that do the cooking at home, which is mostly the wives and mothers, rarely goshopping, they shop as seldom as they possibly can – it isn't that they don't like shopping –they shop for anything…they love shopping, but not food.
　　Yvonne:  Oh dear – Digby is quite rude about the English and their food. He says that40% of English people 'don't have tables to eat off' – so they don't even own adining table where they can eat their meals. They usually eat while sitting onsofas – and that's where a lot of the food goes - 'down the back of the sofa'.
　　Yuck! And who does most of the cooking? Yes, he says the wives and mothers– the women - who love shopping but apparently 11, not for food!
　　INSERTThey shop carelessly, they don't cook carefully. They're not practised in what they do and as aresult their families can't be bothered to come together to eat.
　　Yvonne:  Digby thinks that people aren't practised in cooking – they don't do it oftenenough to become good at it. Allegra McEvedy is about to publish a newcolour cookbook of her own and has this advice for us all so that we can eatwell:
　　INSERTYou need to plan your menus, you need to plan when you're going to shop, where you'regoing to shop and what you're going to eat and with a little bit of planning you can eat wellwith very little time input 12.
　　Yvonne:  So if we plan what we're going to eat and when we're going to shop for it,eating well shouldn't be too difficult. And as Allegra put it, we can 'eat wellwith very little time input' – without spending too much time preparing thefood. Perhaps Digby agrees. Let's hear what they have to say to each other…INSERTDigby:   It is no use thinking that you can not bother to cook all week and then do one bigmeal on Sunday or that you can just wait until you have some people round for adinner party.  You've got to do it everyday otherwise you might as well just giveup.
　　Allegra:    Well, I think everyday isn't realistic in this day and age. Everyone works hard, Imean everyone I know works hard - they don't get in until very late…Digby:   Nonsense!
　　Yvonne:  While Digby believes that people should cook every day, Allegra thinks thatthis is 'unrealistic' – it's not really possible, because people work very hard andget home late. But Digby simply says that's 'nonsense'! Perhaps you think hehas a point. Is it important for families to eat together? And are home cookedmeals always the best - even if we're not very good at cooking?w studentfilmmakers to established and well-known artists such a John Malkovich. Healso mentioned the British director Guy Ritchie who had international successwith the films Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch. In thefestival’s first year Ritchie submitted a short film called Hard Case whichJonathan said was fantastic, and it showed Ritchie formulating or developingthe ideas that he would later use in those mainstream 13 films. The PortobelloFilm Festival runs until the 21 of August and as well as films there are otherarts events as well. Jonathan wants the festival to be more than just for film.
　　Jonathan BarnettYes, what we want it to be is, we want it to be a bit like a kind of cross between Glastonburyand Edinburgh, but for free and set in Portobello Road.
　　Callum:  They would like it to become a big arts festival, something like the hugeGlastonbury music festival and the Edinburgh international arts festival, onlyfree and set in Portobello Road.
　　That’s all from Entertainment this week.