Watch "Coldwater Kitchen", a documentary film addressing some of the most pressing questions of our time, employing food as a prism to tell deeper stories of purpose, resilience, and redemption.
We will be watching "Coldwater Kitchen" at the Sarnia Library Theatre. The film screening will be followed by a Q & A with the film's director, Brian Kaufman.
For 30 years, soft-spoken chef Jimmy Lee Hill has run a highly regarded culinary training program out of a prison in Coldwater, Mich., offering incarcerated men a renewed sense of purpose through the craft of fine dining — everything from foie gras to lobster. “Coldwater Kitchen” follows Chef Hill and three of his students — one facing a life sentence, another battling an opioid addiction, and a third returning to the city where he once dealt drugs — as they navigate the woes of incarceration and the difficulties of transitioning back into society.
Chef Hill employs a mix of compassion and humanity uncommon in the criminal justice system. He is more than just a culinary instructor — he’s also a mentor, a father figure, a spiritual leader, and counselor. He doesn’t just teach his students the skills they need to become fry cooks. Among other things, they learn the French mother sauces, proper service à la russe, how to pour and discuss wine and more. This is training at the highest level — the kind you’d find at any well-regarded culinary school on the outside.
This film has a run time of 91 min.
All film screenings at the library are free!
The Sarnia Library houses a 306-seat accessible theatre. Up to nine seats can be removed to accommodate barrier free seats.
The theatre is equipped with LED lighting along aisles, wall sconces and ceiling, sound equipment, projection screen, stage, lobby area with servery and barrier free washrooms.
