Directed by Nick Cavalier, following a husband and wife culinary duo, Genie Kwon and Tim Flores as they open their first Chicago restaurant Kasama during a global pandemic.
While it’s never been seen as an easy task, it’s quite possible that the pandemic gave us the clearest picture of how difficult it is to open and run a restaurant. Kasama dips into that territory but never feels stuck on the issue of struggle, it focuses on the personalities and motivations of its subjects, Genie Kwon and Tim Flores. It succeeds with a vital point, that surprisingly many others fall short of, which is celebrating the food. It takes the time to not just beautifully present it but to explore what goes into it.
There are two sides to that, first off is purely the passion that goes into it, how committed Kwon and Flores are to their skills as baker and chef. Secondly, it’s how that passion derives from their family and heritage, how their love of food and the way that they make it was directly influenced by how they grew up. It’s a lovely thing to see them want to share those experiences with as many people as possible. Showing the balance between professional and personal, that it isn’t strictly business.
It also briefly explores how people can be hesitant to try food from different cultures and their awareness of it, and how they adapt to ease people into it. All of that is wrapped in this wholesome, calm and respectful atmosphere which nicely carries you away through its story. It takes on the humble qualities of its subjects, and Daniel Kwon’s cinematography adds a compelling weight to it. There’s a big tone of sincerity and everything feels very natural, while the visual is composed and cleverly structured.
Kasama is an earnest and engaging portrayal of a passionate and dedicated couple of culinary artists. Genie Kwon and Tim Flores are extremely easy to watch and listening to their love of food is an almost touching experience. Nick Cavalier shoots both the subjects and the food in such a way that lends it a lot of weight before we even fully dive in. The documentary flows very naturally and has a compelling atmosphere, it’s a great example of why we need to make an effort to patronise businesses like Kasama.
FilmCarnage.com 