Trinis who live abroad will be all too familiar with the seasonal longings for all things local, and T&T-born-and-raised, Toronto-based filmmaker Richard Fung is no different.His longing for–and near obsession with–dhalpuri roti turned into an epic journey, taking him from Canada to Trinidad and thence to India, in search of the origins of this tasty dish.Fung recorded this culinary quest, and the result was the documentary Dal Puri Diaspora.
A free screening of this 80-minute film will be held by the T&T Film Festival (TTFF), as part of the We Beat Festival, on June 7 from 7 pm at the St James Amphitheatre, said a release from the TTFF.In the film Fung visits various restaurants at home and abroad, talking to cooks, noting the variations of ingredients for roti–dhalpuri and paratha, and others–while also poring over archival documents to piece together the shared historical experiences that have resulted in our remarkable multicultural blend of food.In India he heads for the Bhojpur region, where the majority of indentured labourers who came to T&T originated.
In addition to finding and sampling a wide range of tantilising dishes, he also comes back with a greater understanding of dhalpuri's remarkable passage across space and time, linking colonialism, migration and the globalisation of tastes.Dal Puri Diaspora also features interviews with leading scholars and food writers, including Brinsley Samaroo and Patricia Mohammed of T&T, and Pushpesh Pant and Radhika Mongia of India.
The screening of the film on Saturday is sponsored by the T&T Film Company (TTFC) and presented in association with the St James Community Improvement/We Beat Committee. This is the fourth year that the ttff will present a film during the We Beat celebrations.Now in its ninth year, the ttff is presented by Flow, and given leading sponsorship by bpTT and TTFC. Technical services will be provided by North Eleven, the ttff's official screening partner.
For more information, visit ttfilmfestival.com.