Taste and See: Reflecting on Food and Film with Antonio Sison

Antonio 'Ton' Sison is a theologian, film critic, and film maker. We talk to him about his new book, The Sacred Foodways of Film: Theological Servings in 11 Food Films.

During this wide-ranging conversation, we discuss Sison's experiences as a Filipino scholar living for the last two decades in "western" cultures (and cuisines). We talk about film criticism, the varieties of flavors and tastes that make up a well-rounded palate, and the thread of faith that runs through all human experience.

In Sison’s approach, it is the cinematic representation of vivid humanity, not necessarily propositional statements about God and religion, that lays down a bridge to a conversation with theology. He has explored this question in a number of books. In his most recent publication, he looks at the cinematic representation of food(and the communities that surround food preparation and consumption) as a locus for religious epiphany.

Antonio D. Sison, CPPS, PhD, faculty member at Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, is the author of World Cinema, Theology, and the Human (2012) and Screening Schillebeeckx: Theology and Third Cinema in Dialogue (2006).

In 2006, Sison wrote, directed, and filmed the theologically-themes short film ICTHUS. You can watch the film below.

ICHTHUS from Catholic Theological Union on Vimeo.