SHELF LIFE
https://tribecafilm.com/films/shelf-life-2024
Give me all the cheeses. It’s a phrase I should embroider on a pillow in my home. We have an entire drawer dedicated to cheese in our refrigerator. Spending two years in New Haven, my husband and I had the privilege of eating at a restaurant called Caseus (RIP). Their famous five-cheese grilled sandwich was a taste bud revelation. Tribeca 2024 documentary SHELF LIFE is tailor-made for cheese freaks such as myself.
Tribeca alum Ian Cheney (The Search for General Tso) features an array of cheese fiends from all over the world, like Mary Quicke, a 14th-generation cheese maker in Devon, England, Alisha Norris Jones, a cheesemonger on Chicago’s West Side, equates cheese and decay and death. A continued thread of philosophy seamlessly weaves into each discussion. Cheesemaker Jim Stillwagon describes eating cheese as “a sensorial adventure.” He’s not wrong.
Immersive camera work and fast-paced editing keep the audience engaged throughout. At times, the film feels like those great visits to factories on Mr. Rogers. Footage from Vermont’s Jasper Hill Farm features mesmerizing close-ups of both machine and human.
We study the microbiology of cheese. Cheese mites are a thing I didn’t need to know about, but now I do. The science of cheese isn’t something I contemplated before watching. Now, I appreciate the process and the immortality of a thing I love so much. SHELF LIFE is a doc about the art of cheese and how the universal savoring of this singular wonder brings people together. Could cheese bring world peace? Anything is possible.
Documentary Competition
Feature | United States | 76 MINUTES | Arabic, English, French, Georgian, Japanese | English subtitles
Directed by
Ian Cheney
Director
Ian Cheney
Executive Producer
Robyn Metcalfe
Composer
Ben Fries, Simon Beins
Editor
Natasha Bedu, Ian Cheney
Cinematographer
Ezra Wolfinger
Co-Producer
Julia de Guzman
Producer
Meredith DeSalazar, Rebecca Taylor, Manette Pottle
Cheney is building his Arc and documenting each step by delving into the history of the slightest details, human, animal, and mineral. Sporadically punctuated by amusing original limericks and images on his vintage portable television “Rex,” the film is a fascinating rumination on history, memories, and sentimentality. Ezra Wolfinger‘s striking drone shots juxtaposed with Melissa McClung‘s stop-motion transitional sequences are delightful. Close-up shots of wood rings and the ocean floor are awe-inspiring. It is a skillfully crafted journey. Oh, and Werner Herzog appears and produces, and it just makes sense. The final song choice, “Road To Nowhere,” is perfection.
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