She captivated audiences with her TV cooking show and redefined American cooking, and now, Julia Child’s career, life and legacy are explored in the new documentary, Julia.
Child – who is credited for popularising French cuisine in America with her debut 1961 cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking and her television shows – transcended the world of cooking to become a cultural force, changing the way we think about food, television and women.
Julia follows her story, from her childhood in California, to meeting her husband during the war, to becoming one of the few women to attend the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris.
Directed by Academy Award-nominated filmmakers Julie Cohen and Betsy West (RBG), the film features never-before-seen archival footage, personal photos and first-person narratives, taking a deep dive into her rise to stardom in her 50s with her seminal cookbook and TV show, The French Chef.
Child’s life serves as a compelling feminist tale, as a woman who battled the male-dominated food world, with the support of her husband and long-time advocate, Paul. The film’s personal storytelling is paired with fascinating interviews that shed light on her cultural impact, with insights from the likes of Ina Garten, José Andrés and Ruth Reichl.
“When [Child] bursts onto the airwaves in the 1960s, it was a time people thought there was a certain way a woman on TV was supposed to be — they should have a quiet voice, be demure and petite, preferably blonde, certainly young, and either a sex bomb or a quote-unquote housewife type with every hair in place,” says Cohen. “Julia was the opposite of all of that, and it was because she became a television star by happenstance. She was a real human being with a great wacky personality — and it turns out, people really liked that.”
Julia also promises to tempt the tastebuds, recreating Child’s most iconic dishes with stunning food cinematography.
“We chose certain dishes of Julia’s specifically, including roast chicken, her pear tart recipe, and boeuf bourguignon,” says West. “We wanted to really let you feel the food. If people leave this film hungry, we did something right.”
Julia will be released on 21 October, 2021 – only in cinemas.
We have copies of Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking to give away. Click here to enter.
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