Jump to content

The Chef and the Daruma

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Chef and the Daruma
Directed byMads K. Baekkevold
Written byNatalie Murao
Produced byLuis Guerra
StarringHidekazu Tojo
Gabriel Prevost-Takahashi
CinematographyKaayla Whachell
Edited byAnna Chiyeko Shannon
Music byMasahiro Takahashi
Production
company
Wallop Film
Release date
  • September 30, 2024 (2024-09-30) (VIFF)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryCanada
LanguagesEnglish
Japanese

The Chef and the Daruma is a Canadian documentary film, directed by Mads K. Baekkevold and released in 2024.[1] The film is a portrait of Hidekazu Tojo, a Japanese immigrant to Canada who became a prominent chef on the Vancouver restaurant scene and has been credited as the inventor of California roll,[2] It blends both contemporary documentary footage and dramatic reenactments of scenes from Tojo's early life, with young Tojo performed by actor Gabriel Prevost-Takahashi.

The film premiered at the 2024 Vancouver International Film Festival,[3] where it was the winner of the Audience Award for the Insights program.[4]

The film proved so popular that VIFF had to add two additional screenings during the festival,[5] and seven post-festival screenings at the VIFF Centre through the rest of October.[6] Tojo also introduced a special "The Chef and the Daruma" menu at his restaurant in conjunction with the film.[6]

References

[edit]
[edit]