Wanderjahre

Filmstill She Chef

She Chef

Wanderjahre
Gereon Wetzel, Melanie Liebheit
German Competition 2022
Documentary Film
Germany,
Austria
2022
100 minutes
German,
English,
Danish,
Spanish
Subtitles: 
English

We’re travelling from luxury kitchen to luxury kitchen with Agnes, from Bergisch Gladbach via Barcelona to the Faroe Islands. The cook’s luggage always includes her backpack containing various knives, cleavers and tweezers. The camera watches over the inquisitive young woman’s shoulder as delicacies are being prepared. Our mouths water. At the same time, we get insights into the different ways of running a restaurant. It’s about team spirit and equality at the stove.

Goethe’s “Wilhelm Meister’s Apprenticeship and Travels” comes to mind, because this observational documentary is also like a novel of development. Agnes is ambitious, knows her craft. She wants to be her own boss one day. She soon finds her way around every new team, takes her place. It’s a sensuous pleasure to watch how the many hands interlock, how culinary creations are lovingly made, delicately plucked salad leaves arranged as decorations. At the same time, Agnes has to struggle against opposition. Her wages are low. A colleague asks her what business she, who has just finished her apprenticeship, has in a three-star restaurant. Agnes is moving in a male domain, in an environment that tends to pass the pressure down. But in the course of her journey, she also comes across collective forms of cooperation and new visions of cooking.
Anke Leweke

Credits DOK Leipzig Logo

Director
Gereon Wetzel, Melanie Liebheit
Cinematographer
Gereon Wetzel
Editor
Stephan Bechinger
Producer
Florian Brüning, Thomas Herberth, Alireza Golafshan
Sound
Melanie Liebheit
Score
Wolf-Maximillian Liebich
World Sales
Georg Gruber
Funder
FilmFernsehFonds Bayern, Filmfonds Wien, ORF Film/Fernsehabkommen, Deutscher Filmförderfonds (DFFF), Österreichisches Filminstitut, BKM – Staatsministerin Kultur und Medien, Filmstandort Austria (FISA)
Nominated for: VER.DI Prize for Solidarity, Humanity and Fairness, Young Eyes Film Award, DEFA Sponsoring Prize