Apr 11 2026 to Apr 12 2026 10 a.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

Food is fuel. For community, connection and conversation.

Over two days, the CALORIE Film Festival brings together 12 films across 11 languages, spanning documentaries, animated shorts, and narrative features. Coupled with discussions, the festival offers glimpses of how food inhabits everyday life: in plastic-wrapped sweets on shop shelves, in forgotten millet fields, in the precarious lives of fisherfolk and in jars of mango pickle stirred in quiet companionship. 

Look more closely at what is on your plate, and you will see everything it took to get there.

Festival Schedule: Download the full schedule here.

Day 1 | 11 April | Saturday | 10:00 am – 8:00 pm

10:00 am – 10:05 am: Opening Address by SGB team

10:05 am – 11:45 am: The Great Indian Kitchen
Feature | Malayalam with English Subtitles | India | Jeo Baby
The film explores the politics of gendered labour and the cultural meanings embedded in food practices. Through its intimate portrayal of a newly married woman’s life, the film reveals how routine kitchen work reflects larger structures of power and inequality.

11:45 am – 12:45 pm: Discussion with Jeo Baby and Nilanjana Sengupta
How does everyday domestic labour, especially around food, become a site of control, invisibility, and resistance within patriarchal households?
In conversation after the screening, Jeo Baby and Nilanjana Sengupta will unpack these themes in The Great Indian Kitchen, examining how cinema can foreground the often-unseen labour of women while questioning deeply rooted social norms around care, duty, and domesticity.

12:45 pm – 1:45 pm: Break

1:45 pm – 1:50 pm: Ajja Ajji – Pickle
Animated Short | Kannada with English Subtitles | India | Bhaashya
Ajja and Ajji, an older couple, team up to make mango pickles. Along with the rhythmic pickle routine, their mundane conversations and fun banter reveal their unique layer of emotional intimacy against a rural Indian backdrop.

1:50 pm – 2 pm: Dinner for Few
Animated Short | USA, Greece | Nassos Vakalis
A formal dinner takes an unexpected turn when there is not enough food for everyone.

2 pm – 2:15 pm: Sweet Plastik
Experimental Short | Bahasa Aceh with English Subtitles | Indonesia | Alfred Banze, Agus Nur Amal
The film showcases the entangled existence of two seemingly separate items. Every sweet comes wrapped in plastic, from big brands to local shops.

2:15 pm – 3:05 pm: Steeped and Stirred
Narrative Documentary | Hindi, English & Bengali with English Subtitles | India | Shweta Ghosh
The varied identities and paradoxes that make and break the idea of India, told through the most universally desi cultural phenomenon: chai time. 

3:05 pm – 4:40 pm: Against the Tide
Documentary | Marathi with English Subtitles | India | Sarvnik Kaur
A nuanced look at the maritime lives of two Koli men is a poignant tale of friendship sustained amid economic and ecological crises. Winner of the Special Jury Award at Sundance in 2023, this powerful observational documentary is an environmental wake-up call.

4:40 pm – 6:15 pm: Our Daily Bread
Documentary | Austria | Nikolaus Geyrhalter
To the rhythm of conveyor belts and immense machines, the film observes the places where food is produced in Europe. From monumental spaces, to surreal landscapes, this is an examination of the people and places that provide sustenance. Is there space for the individual in this cool, industrialised system?

Day 2 | 12 April | Sunday | 11:00 am – 8:00 pm

11 am – 12:15 pm: Colonies in Conflict
Documentary | Kannada with English Subtitles | India | Rajani Mani
This film follows the migratory rock bee across Indian cities, forests, and farmlands, tracing the very different ways people understand and respond to their presence. For urban dwellers, the bees are a nuisance to be removed. For farmers, they are quiet partners in pollination, arriving and leaving with the seasons. Shot over two years across multiple locations in India, the film is the first to capture rock bees in close detail and, in doing so, surfaces what their declining numbers reveal about pollution, pesticide use, and the pressures of intensive agriculture.

12:15 pm – 1 pm: Discussion with Rajani Mani and Geetha G Thimmegowda
What would you do if a colony of wild honeybees made themselves your neighbours?
Filmmaker Rajani Mani and ecologist Geetha G Thimmegowda, one of the scientists featured in Colonies in Conflict, will be in conversation after the screening. They will discuss what it takes to tell a story at this scale, from a Bengaluru neighbourhood to the wider ecosystems that rock bees move through. How can we make room for them?

1 pm – 2 pm: Break

2 pm – 3:25 pm: The Truffle Hunters
Documentary | Italian (Piedmontese) with English Subtitles | Italy | Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
A handful of men search for rare, expensive, and delicious white Alba truffles deep in the forests of Piedmont, Italy.

3:25 pm – 3:40 pm: What’s in My Basket: Crab
Short Film | Nimari with English Subtitles | India | Laxminarayan Devda
Set in the village of Garaghat, in central India, this film follows crab catchers Shankar and Reshma as both explore the life cycle, health benefits, and culinary delights of crabs. Interwoven with local folklore and reverence, the film also reveals the dark side of modern fishing, highlighting the ecological damage caused by toxic chemicals and electrocution. Through Shankar’s voice, the film becomes both a tribute to age-old wisdom and a stark warning about the threats to aquatic ecosystems.

3:40 pm – 5 pm: The Gleaners and I
Documentary | French with English Subtitles | France | Agnès Varda
Varda films and interviews gleaners in France in all forms, from those picking fields after the harvest to those scouring the dumpsters of Paris.

5 pm – 6:15 pm: Jota Urondo, An Impertinent Chef
Documentary | Spanish with English Subtitles | Argentina | Mariana Erijimovich, Juan Villegas
A portrait of Javier Urondo and his discomforting and provocative take on the act of serving food. Paco Urondo, his father, was a distinguished poet and political activist, murdered by the military dictatorship in 1976. This is the story of Javier, of how he maintains the Urondo Bar, a restaurant in a Buenos Aires suburb, from where he lends new meaning to a legacy and belonging and turns them into an act of resistance. This is a film about food as a source of culture and family.

After the Screening

11 April | 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm: Karaoke Kitchen
Join us for a relaxed, food-themed karaoke session, where we invite you to take the mic and perform a number from a selection of popular songs inspired by food and drink—bringing together music, creativity, and a lively, community-centered atmosphere. Bring your own songs or choose from our long list of titles with food in their names!

12 April | 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm: Diced!
with Underline Center
A perfectly civil evening of food-themed board games and quietly escalating chaos. We encourage fair play. We do not expect it!

Interactive Installations | 11 & 12 April | Sat & Sun | 11:00 am – 7:00 pm

Tasty Tales
with Beku 
Step into a cozy, food-inspired reading nook where stories are savored like good meals—inviting you to browse, linger, and indulge in a collection of books that celebrate the flavors, cultures, politics and comforts of food.

Achaar Archives
Everyone has an achaar story — your Ajji’s secret, a family favourite, or that one recipe you didn’t know could exist. Passed down in whispers, scribbled on scraps of paper, or perfected over years, each one carries a little bit of home. Drop yours in the jar!

Dabba Doodles
Recreate the meals you grew up with, flavours, rituals, and memories carried from home. Dabba Doodles celebrates the everyday nostalgia of food as we peek into how we remember, share, and carried our lunchboxes.

The Whole Dish, Eventually
Build your dish piece by piece and watch their recipes come alive, one satisfying puzzle piece at a time.

In collaboration with:

Science Gallery Bengaluru (SGB) is a not-for-profit public institution for research-based engagement targeted at young adults working at the intersection of the human, natural, and social sciences, engineering, art, and design. SGB’s public engagement model moves beyond participation and towards proactive involvement through ever-changing research festivals anchored by interdisciplinary exhibitions, programmes, and public events consisting of research-based engagements led by artists and scholars from diverse backgrounds. SGB is established with the founding support of the Government of Karnataka and three academic partners: the Indian Institute of Science, the National Centre for Biological Sciences, and the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences.

Speakers

Jeo Baby
Filmmaker
Jeo Baby is an Indian director, writer, and actor in Malayalam cinema. He debuted with 2 Penkuttikal (2016), followed by Kunju Daivam (2017) and Kilometers and Kilometers (2020). His landmark film The Great Indian Kitchen gained international acclaim, screening at major festivals including the UK Asian Film Festival and winning three Kerala State Film Awards for Best Film, Screenplay, and Sound Design. He later co-created the anthology Freedom Fight and directed Kaathal–The Core (2023), a critically acclaimed commercial success that further cemented his reputation as a leading contemporary filmmaker.

Nilanjana Sengupta
Social Scientist
Dr Nilanjana Sengupta is a faculty member at Azim Premji University, working at the intersection of gender and development studies. With nearly two decades of experience across academia and practice, she has engaged with institutions such as UN Women and ICRW. Her work focuses on gender, labour, livelihoods, and governance, and she co-authored Domestic Days (2016).

Rajani Mani
Filmmaker
Rajani Mani is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work blends scientific inquiry with intimate, character-driven storytelling. Her films explore themes such as food systems, public health, social change, labour, and community memory. She is the co-founder of Elephant Corridor Films, a Bengaluru-based media agency focused on documenting underreported environmental and sustainability stories.

Geetha G Thimmegowda
Ecologist
Geetha’s work lies at the intersection of biology, health, and interdisciplinary research, connecting scientific inquiry to real-world contexts. Her work engages with environmental and societal questions, alongside applied interests in animal husbandry and community initiatives. As Chief Research Officer, she leads research development, strengthens ecosystems, and fosters collaborations across medical and engineering domains, with a focus on sustainable, practice-orientated approaches.

Devika Pradeep
Programme Associate, SGB
Devika Pradeep is a Programme Associate at Science Gallery Bengaluru, working at the intersection of art, science, and public engagement. Her practice includes film curation and developing diverse engagement formats to create accessible cultural experiences. With a background in development and policy, she is interested in culture, society, and how interdisciplinary approaches can deepen public understanding of contemporary issues.

Gayatri Manu
Senior Programme Manager, SGB
Gayatri Manu is a writer based in Bengaluru, India, working at the intersection of art, public programming, and research. Currently Senior Programme Manager at Science Gallery Bengaluru, she creates interdisciplinary exhibitions and programmes that bring together the arts, sciences, and technology. A 2024 Curatorial Intensive South Asia fellow (Khoj x Goethe-Institut) with a background in literary studies, journalism and exhibition making.

Shreya Anu Shekar
Experimentor, SGB
Shreya Anu Shekar is a transdisciplinary artist and Experimentor at Science Gallery Bengaluru, working at the intersection of art, science, and public engagement. With a background in Information Arts and Design, her practice spans storytelling, digital and traditional art forms, and building learning resources. Driven by curiosity and a constant urge to document the everyday, she finds meaning in the mundane and the in-between.