Our Review of the Exquisite Documentary, “A Film About Coffee”

One of the very best things that happened during the SCAA show in Seattle didn’t actually happen  at the SCAA show in Seattle: The world premiere of “A Film About Coffee,” the new documentary from director Brandon Loper and the production company Avocados & Coconuts, is hands down the most informative, stylish, and compassionate  motion picture to be made about our favorite beverage to date.

So many people turned out at the AMC Regal Cinema in downtown Seattle on the evening of April 26 for the screening that Brandon and crew had to add a second showing. And this was some kind of crowd, too ”almost all of the luminaries featured in the film showed up to see the final result, among them George Howell, Darrin Daniel, Michael Phillips, Devin Chapman, Kyle Glanville, Eileen Hassi Rinaldi, Kevin Bohlin,  Peter Giuliano, and the crew from Slate Coffee. Other interview subjects in “A Film About Coffee” include James Freeman, Chris Owens, Katie Carguilo, Ben Kaminsky, Kent Bakke, and the delightful Katzu Tanaka.

Eileen Hassi Rinaldi, owner of Ritual Coffee in San Francisco, is one of many impressive coffee professionals interviewed in "A Film About Coffee."
Eileen Hassi Rinaldi, owner of Ritual Coffee in San Francisco, is one of many impressive coffee professionals interviewed in “A Film About Coffee.” Photo courtesy of Avocados & Coconuts.

I. Loved. This. Film. I had pretty high expectations, since I’d interviewed Brandon about “A Film About Coffee” back when he was still in production (I talk about it in my Editor letter and also on page 18 of the October+November issue of  Barista Magazine, which you can read online HERE). The crowd was tittering with excitement that Saturday night in Seattle, myself included. Considering the highbrow coffee troops  assembled, 2010 World Barista Champ Michael Phillips brought some welcome levity when he arrived just before lights out carrying a giant bucket of popcorn and an extra large soda, tripping over himself with loud exclamations of “‘scuse me, pardon me, ooopsy, sorry” before taking his seat.

And then it began: A lovely collage of images capturing the process of brewing a single siphon. The original soundtrack by Brian Hall of Marmoset Music in Portland introduces itself in perfect tandem to the images flashing across the screen: plucking strings when we hear from industry experts about the poetics of coffee and its history; then crescendos of sound as the reel  reveals sweeping vistas of Lake Kivu in Rwanda  captured in big swooping shots; I imagined Brandon swinging his camera from side to side while leaning out of a helicopter as it circled over Huye Mountain.

Darrin Daniel, then representing Stumptown Coffee on a buying trip to Rwanda, talks with producers.
Green coffee buyer Darrin Daniel, then with  Stumptown Coffee, talks with producers in Rwanda. Photo courtesy of Avocados & Coconuts.

What I really like about “A Film About Coffee” is its gentle, subtle, but seriously stylishly smart observations: It’s like a bunch of really awesome coffee people are getting together, and they invited this way  cool other person ”not a coffee professional but someone who appreciates both the taste and the aesthetics of coffee ”to hang out with them. The new person doesn’t contribute to the coffee conversations going on around him but rather absorbs them. This is “A Film About Coffee”: it stands to the side and just respects the narrative unfolding  around it, without falling into the catastrophic but all-too-common pitfall of stepping into the frame and/or otherwise pushing to influence the flow of a natural, authentic story.

Stay tuned to www.afilmaboutcoffee.com for news on upcoming screenings around the world. So far, it had its world premiere in Seattle before the crew jetted off to the Amsterdam Coffee Festival for the documentary's European debut. And screenings in San Francisco and Portland, Ore., have just been announced. See the end of this article for details.
Stay tuned to www.afilmaboutcoffee.com for news on upcoming screenings around the world. So far, it had its world premiere in Seattle before the crew jetted off to the Amsterdam Coffee Festival for the documentary’s European debut last week. Screenings in San Francisco and Portland, Ore., have just been announced. See the end of this article for details.

I drowned in the lusciousness of the panorama on screen when I watched a Rwandan coffee farmer’s legs pumping on his cargo bike as he  climbed the severe, rocky  slopes leading up, up, up to his co-op’s mill so he could collect a single bag of hulled coffee to transport back down the hill. I was inspired by the story-within-a-story of Darrin Daniel ”then with Stumptown Coffee ”as he responded to Huye Mountain producers’ appeal for fresh, running water. Stumptown stepped up  unequivocally, fully funding a system to provide not only water for the mill to both expedite and purify the wet milling process, but clean drinking water for the entire village, as well. I was so struck by Kyle Glanville’s insight during an interview that no one adds to the quality of coffee; in fact, everyone who comes after the farmer takes away a little bit, that I wrote it on the palm of my hand. I got genuinely choked up watching footage of Kevin Bohlin serving straight shots and cappuccinos to coffee farmers in Honduras who had never tasted their coffee as espresso before. (Kevin wrote an article about the experience for the December+January 2013 issue of  Barista Magazine.) And I laughed as Katzu Tanaka told Brandon with super hyped intensity how coffee people  have to be sexy.

After the premiere in Seattle, Brandon Loper addressed the audience and welcomed those involved in the film to the stage. What ensued was a lively (and far too short) question and answer wit Brandon, his film crew, and many of the experts included in the film, such as George Howell, Michael Phillips, Devin Chapman, and Kevin Bohlin.
After the premiere in Seattle, Brandon Loper addressed the audience and welcomed those involved in the film to the stage. What ensued was a lively (and far too short) question and answer wit Brandon, his film crew, and many of the experts included in the film, such as George Howell, Michael Phillips, Devin Chapman, and Kevin Bohlin. Photo courtesy of Avocados & Coconuts.

I had to get to a dinner that night in Seattle, otherwise I would have stayed for the second showing. As it was, I left mesmerized, really bowled over by how fully “A Film About Coffee” delivered on Brandon’s promises.

Before I got into writing about coffee, I was the film critic for  The Oakland Tribune in the San Francisco Bay Area. While I haven’t sat down to write a movie review for publication in quite a while, my hands instinctively dug through my purse for paper and a pen as the documentary began that night. I hadn’t attended the screening planning to write a review, but I honestly couldn’t help myself from chronicling what I was seeing. I wanted to share it with  Barista Magazine‘s readers, professionals and consumers alike ”you guys just have to see this film.

West Coasters, take note: screenings in San Francisco and Portland, Ore., have just been announced. Here are the deets:

Laurelhurst Theater, 2735 E. Burnside
Portland, Oregon
7 p.m., May 29
Buy tickets HERE

Castro Theater, 429 Castro St.
San Francisco, California
7:30, June 3
Buy tickets HERE

The Avocados & Coconuts crew is trying to schedule lots more screenings, so if you want to see “A Film About Coffee” in  your city, let the team know! Just go here to fill out a request.

 

About Sarah 929 Articles
Sarah Allen (she/her) is co-founder and editor of Barista Magazine, the international trade magazine for coffee professionals. A passionate advocate for baristas, quality, and the coffee community, Sarah has traveled widely to research stories, interact with readers, and present on a variety of topics affecting specialty coffee. She also loves animals, swimming, ice cream, and living in Portland, Oregon.