A Taste of Chicken ala Carte

Chicken ala Carte presented a glimpse of the life of hunger- and poverty-stricken Filipinos in the face of globalization. It focused on the portion of society that was forsaken of the luxuries of life. It was based on the real life stories of thousands of Filipinos, especially those who are urban poor.

This independent short film was awarded as the Most Popular Short Film under the theme "Food, Taste and Hunger" during the 56th Berlin International Film Festival. The film was written, photographed and directed by Ferdinand Dimadura. He also composed, arranged and performed the original music in it.

Chicken ala Carte begins by showing several fast food joints popular in the Philippines at night. The scene then shifts showing two women in a fast food joint ordering their meals. The cashier passes the order slip to the kitchen staff, wherein the process of meal preparation was followed by the camera. A waiter then brings the dishes to the two women. They eat their food, but eat most of their time talking. They leave the place with their meals half-eaten.

Later at dawn, a man rides his pedicab down a street. He goes to the same joint where the women went. He enters the store carrying a large bin. However, he does not go to the counter to order food. Instead, he goes to the kitchen where he has access to the large bins where the leftovers are thrown. He opens them and scoops up large black plastic bags full of bits and pieces of leftover viands, pasta and rice. He places them in his own bin. Then he spots a smaller container with chicken leftovers that still has a considerable amount of meat on the bones. It was with delight that he picked a few pieces, the pieces that might have been left by the women earlier.

The man leaves the kitchen with his bin, gets back on his pedicab and rides away.

The scene shifts from night to day as the man enters a slum area. The children, who are playing with each other, greets him warmly as he approaches them. It seems that they have anticipated his coming. As the man opens the bin, they shuffle about and rummage the insides of the bin. Their faces show how happy they are for eating something from a fast food store, even if they are the leftovers.

The man comes in to his little hut, where his wife and children await him. Their faces light up as they see the food he brings. His wife distributes the pieces of chicken to their children as he watches them happy. His daughter was about to eat but he stops her. He believes that grace should be said before meals

The film ends by informing the audience that thousands of people around the world die of hunger every single day.

It is a film that exposes the forgotten Filipinos who live by what others deemed as trash. It shows how those are well-to-do waste resources without thinking of the consequences nor less fortunate people. It shows that however impoverished these people are, they have a somewhat stronger sense of faith than most well-off people do. Furthermore, Chicken ala Carte is an inspiration for everyone because of the hope and spirituality that never left these people.


Bon a petit!

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A/N: I submitted an article similar to this back in high school. Recently, I watched the film and I was inspired to write about it again. Here's a link to watch Chicken ala Carte  in Culture Unplugged or in YouTube.