Canadian filmmaker and storyteller Brodie Vissers believes that every drink has a story to tell. Through his work, he explores the people, traditions, and cultures behind what we drink, documenting the rituals that connect communities across the world.

As part of the International Gastronomy Film Festival, we spoke with Brodie Vissers about the curiosity that drives his storytelling, the shared language between gastronomy and cinema, and the moments from the festival that stayed with him.

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Çiğdem Beder: For someone watching your work for the first time, how would you describe the person behind the camera?

Brodie Vissers: For me, everything starts with curiosity and the desire to explore. As a Canadian, growing up skateboarding, traveling the world, and now living in Barcelona, my creative projects have always stemmed from a place of seeking unique experiences, connect with people, and discover the world off the beaten path. Everything else flows from that.

Everything starts with curiosity and the desire to explore.

Çiğdem Beder: What usually draws you toward a story? How do you know when an idea has the potential to become something worth telling?

Brodie Vissers: Ideas worth telling are somewhat subjective, I believe. What might be a captivating and important story for one person may be the most boring thing in the world for someone else. Also, with the advent of social media (where many stories are now told), we have this dichotomy of the most popular trends gaining the most traction through algorithms, while at the same time the ability to really find your niche and attract thousands of people to a topic that might otherwise be very obscure to the masses. So, my answer… just follow your curiosity. Don’t worry about what other people think because that’s where the real stories come to life.

Just follow your curiosity. Don’t worry about what other people think because that’s where the real stories come to life.

When you encounter the food and beverage cultures of different places, what aspects of them resonate with you most as a storyteller?

What resonates with me the most is actually seeing how passionate the ones who have shaped it are. This makes me more excited, and I think stories gain more momentum that way. For example, in Türkiye most people are really passionate and proud of their long history of coffee culture, so it’s fun to explore further. Or think about the passion of an up-and-coming chef to show the world (or local neighbourhood) their recipes. This makes the story more dynamic. But ultimately, I’m very interested in heritage and tradition, because they’ve stood the test of time and influenced where others carried the torch. Whether it’s an ancient winemaking method from Georgia teaching the world to drink wine, or the history of Tiramisu in Italy, now a worldwide dessert.

In your view, what makes a food experience memorable? And what makes a film experience stay with us long after it ends?

The most memorable food experiences for me are always about the people I’m with. That’s really why we get together to eat food. But it’s also the environment, music, the servers or chefs themselves, and of course a good drink pairing.

My favourite films are not always the biggest blockbusters, or the ones with the best plot, but rather the imperfections that culminate in something truly special like the soundtrack, the colouring, memorable lines you end up repeating your whole life, and of course the character transformation – the ones that feel like a reflection of ourselves.

I’m very interested in heritage and tradition, because they’ve stood the test of time.

During the festival, you asked how far someone would be willing to travel for a drink. It struck me as a question about passion. For you, it might be a drink; for me, it’s cinema. What do we gain, and how do we change, when we choose to follow our passions?

I think it’s all about depth. The biggest discoveries or advancements in our society never came from staying on the surface or following the crowd, they came from picking something that really gripped you and going as far as you could with it. It’s definitely not always the most efficient way, but ultimately it shapes who we are.

The most memorable food experiences for me are always about the people I’m with.

Throughout the International Gastronomy Film Festival, you seemed to have a very warm and genuine connection with audiences. What do these encounters and conversations mean to you? Do they influence the way you create content or the kinds of stories you choose to pursue?

Thank you, that means a lot! I always learn a lot by connecting with other people, and as I mentioned before, it’s important for me to learn what others are passionate about. This opens my perspective to things I may have never thought about or make connections between very distinct things. For me the best stories are the ones that really make you think, so those types of abstract connections can be exciting.

The best stories are the ones that really make you think.

Could you share your experience of this two-day International Gastronomy Film Festival with us? What impression did an event that brings together gastronomy and cinema under the same roof leave on you?

I had a lovely time at the International Gastronomy Film Festival. It was an amazing venue, and everyone was so kind and excited to show their work (whether food or films).

Although gastronomy and cinema or foodie content is nothing new, I think there’s a lot more potential to bring these two worlds together in a more experiential way, and I believe the International Gastronomy Film Festival was definitely a big step in that direction.

After spending two days at the International Gastronomy Film Festival, is there a conversation, encounter, or idea that you think might stay with you and perhaps find its way into a future story or project?

The experience that stood out to me the most was definitely Tasty Cinema, pairing both beer and wine with small bites and movie clips across two different sessions. That was exciting and I see a lot of potential there too.