Charleston Food Film Festival, Night 1

Last night, Lily and I attended the first night of the 2nd Annual Charleston Food Film Festival atop the USS Yorktown in the Charleston Harbor.

The main feature the first night was “Kings of BBQ Barbecue Kuwait,” a short film by director John Markus (who’s super nice, btw), which chronicles him as he “teams up with the most legendary BBQ Pitmasters in America, travel to the Middle East, and cook an unforgettable homestyle dinner of smoked brisket and chicken for thousands of US troops stationed in Kuwait.”

The film was about 37 minutes long, and was a joy to watch. I was entertained from start to finish. The coolest part was when you were sitting in your seat watching the soldiers enjoy their brisket on the screen, brisket suddenly appeared in your lap for you to try, too. The brisket was provided by Sticky Fingers and was prepared by the pitmasters from the film who’d been cooking it for most of the day.

The second film was called “Mile High Pie,” by director Melanie Addington, which told the story of ” mile-high pies at Ed & Kay’s Restaurant in Benton, Arkansas.” The film was about 4 minutes long, and I really enjoyed the lemon meringue pie we sampled during the film, provided by Wild Flour bakery in Charleston.

After the films were over, there were buffet stations setup with a full BBQ feast available (chicken wings, brisket, baked beans, coleslaw, potato salad, and beers from Holy City Brewery), being served to us by the same pitmasters who were featured in the first film.

Although I took the time to stop and talk to each of the pitmasters, I was extra excited to get a photo with my favorite, Johnny Trigg, a two-time Jack Daniels World Championship Invitational grand champ. 

I really enjoyed getting the opportunity to talk to director John Markus about what inspired him to make the movie. You can tell by the way he talked (even with BBQ sauce smeared on his cheek) that he put some of his own heart into the film. He seemed to genuinely be pleased to hear that we enjoyed the film.

I had a crazy amount of fun and can’t wait for tonight and tomorrow’s events, where I’ll be joined by my mom at High Wire Distilling (which I’m excited about because I haven’t been there yet). Tickets are still on sale, and if you enter QUEENS10 at checkout, you’ll save 10%! Hope to see you there!