The Peruvian documentary ‘De Ollas y Sueños’ will premiere at the Havana Film Festival this coming Saturday and then be presented the next day in Long Island City to the Peruvian community in Queens. The film, directed by Ernesto Cabellos (who we interviewed here) asks the question: “Can a whole nation be represented in its kitchen?” and spends 75 minutes traveling along the coast of Peru, the Andes, the Amazon, and visiting Peruvian communities in Madrid, London, New York and Paris.

Director Ernesto Cabellos, the Lima, Peru-based director of the lovely new film about Peruvian identity through food entitled, De Ollas y Sueños, or Cooking Up Dreams (read our review here), was kind enough to answer a few questions with us about making the film, the relationship Peruvians have with food, and some of his inspirations in making the project.

Peruvian cuisine is one of the driving forces of Peru’s economy and growing national pride. Like Japan or France, here food, and the people that make it, are respected at all levels of society. It is the most revealing aspect of Peruvian society, more so than music or futbol. A beautiful new film, entitled, De Ollas y Sueños, or Cooking Up Dreams, has recently opened to much acclaim. The film follows Peruvian cuisine around Peru and around the world.

Tiempo Santo, or Holy Time, is when god comes down off his pedestal and cannot see the sins of man. On Good Friday, after acknowledging the crucifixion of Christ, the townspeople begin a festival of decadence where, since Jesus is gone, all sins cannot be seen until he rises again on Easter Sunday.