PUTNEY — Next Stage Arts Project is serving up a “Thursdays in January” series of food-themed films, and pairing them with the perfect culinary garnish.
Bring an appetite. The series, “Films with Taste,” is curated and hosted by Putney School Executive Chef Marty Brennan-Sawyer.
“We're excited to have Marty making this series a reality. Combining food with films will be a lot of fun for audiences,” said Next Stage Arts Project's co-founder Billy Straus.
The series kicks off Thursday, Jan. 10, at 7 p.m., with Tampopo, an unrated 1985 Japanese comedy by director Juzo Itami, starring Tsutomu Yamazaki, Nobuko Miyamoto, Koji Yakusho, and Ken Watanabe.
The other films in the series are Like Water for Chocolate (1992, rated R) on Jan. 17; Eat Drink Man Woman (1994, unrated) on Jan. 24; and Chocolat (2000, PG-13) on Jan. 31. All showtimes are 7 p.m.
According to Brennan-Sawyer, also a longtime Putney resident whose creative energies fuel The Putney School, “The folks at Next Stage Arts are doing a wonderful thing for our town and for the larger community, and I'm happy to be curating this series.”
Admission for all films in the “Films with Taste” series is by donation. Five dollars is suggested.
Next Stage Cinema shows films every Thursday, and highlights a new theme each month.
February's series is hosted by Brattleboro resident Lou Erlanger and will focus on blues music in film.
In March, recent BUHS graduate Clark Glennon presents a series of films directed by noted filmmaker John Cassavetes.
Past hosts have included psychologist Martha Straus, BMAC Director Danny Lichtenfeld, and Vermont Jazz Center's Eugene Euman.
Next Stage Arts Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to revitalizing Putney's cultural and economic village center through the programming, development, and operation of Next Stage. Since its founding in early 2011, it has hosted dozens of events, such as classical, folk, and popular music concerts, a weekly community film series, and a spoken word series.