M.F.K. Fisher, the maverick feminist who first made writing about food a full-sensory experience decades before the phrase food porn caught on, is subject of a new documentary from Bay Area-based filmmaker Gregory Bezat that’s featured at this year’s Palm Springs International Film Festival.
Never heard of her? Well, watching this compelling film should convince you to do a deep dive into her considerable body of work. Here’s what you need to know.
The celebrated author MFK Fisher is the subject of a new documentary, which is showing at the Palm … [+]
The original influencer
Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher was born in 1908 and began writing at the age of 9, eventually publishing 27 books over the span of many decades. She wrote about food in a sensuous style that was considered scandalous at the time. She didn’t give a fig. She explains in rare footage included in The Art of Eating that she simply had no choice.
Her words stirred a legion of admirers, many who are featured in the film.
Jacques Pepin talks about her pioneering spirit: “Mary Frances was way ahead of her time, talking about food in a way that people had not done before.”
Ruth Reichl talks about the strong impression she made with her lyrical prose: “She’s telling you to pay attention to every sense and she does it in a very feminine way.”
Chef John Ash heaps praise on her accomplishments: “If it hadn’t been for James Beard and Julia Child and M.F.K. Fisher and Jacques Pepin, I don’t know where American Cuisine would be today.”
Alice Waters — a maverick in her own right — said: “I’ve admired many women. They all have what Mary Frances had, which is a kind of confidence in herself to live life the way she wanted.”
Ground-breaking writer M.F.K. Fisher is the focus of a new documentary from director Gregory Bezat.
The inspiration
Seasoned filmmaker Greg Bezat first encountered this force of nature in the 1980s when he was working for Sunset magazine in the films department: “One day, I got a called from the food editor, the wonderful Jerry Di Vecchio who said we were going to go to Glen Ellen and interview M.F.K. Fisher and she was absolutely mesmerizing. We had lunch and sat around and talked all day. She was witty and wry and I thought she’d make a fascinating subject for a film,” he said in a recent phone interview.
Many years passed before he approached the family, asking for permission. “They told me to submit a proposal and then gave me the go-ahead in 2017. They told me they had turned down 17 other directors,” he said.
Bezat began working on the project and he quickly discovered his subject was complicated: “She wasn’t just writing about food. She was writing about love and loss and everything,” he said.
During the early days of the pandemic, Bezat used the quarantine time to dive deeply into the many layers of this complex woman, who was both a loner and a social butterfly. “I read everything I could get my hands on, including 900 pages of her journal.”
The most surprising discovery? “She was really an independent woman way before that was in vogue. She was of the mind that she was going to do what she wanted to do.” In the film, she credits her father — a newspaper man — with her best and worst characteristics. “She stuck with her writing instead of kowtowing to social constructs.”
She writes eloquently about the pleasures of dining alone, of the thrill of discovery when solo traveling and the comforts of coming home. Those were radical stories in the 1930s, ‘40s and ‘50s.
Bezat’s driving motivation in creating this entertaining biopic was to introduce others to her work in the hopes that it might be inspiring. “Before the pandemic, I was in a Bi-Rite in San Francisco and I asked a young woman who was working in the produce department if she’d ever heard of M.F.K. Fisher. She hadn’t. I told her to get her hands on any book of hers and start reading it. When I went back in some time later, she came rushing up to me and thanked me. That became the model for this film. I really hope others will be inspired like I was by this great writer.”
While the film is making the rounds on the film festival circuit, Bezat said he’s still working on the details of making The Art of Eating available on streaming services. It shows at the Palm Springs International Film Festival on Jan. 12 and 13.
Click here for a full lineup of films featured at the 34th annual PSIFF. On this comprehensive website, you’ll even find dining and shopping recommendations, an eclectic lineup that includes popular spots such as Townie Bagels and El Mirasol Cocina Mexicana.
Watch the trailer for The Art of Eating documentary:
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