From food scraps to culinary art
Theatre of Life displays chefs turning food waste into meals for Italy’s hungry
When 60 of the world’s most celebrated chefs—including Ferran Adrià, René Redzepi and Alain Ducasse—joined forces in a soup kitchen in Milan, the result was more than a gourmet tasting.
Directed by Canadian filmmaker Peter Svatek, Theatre of Life is a heartfelt documentary that chronicles the transformation of food scraps into culinary masterpieces. The film was screened at the Alanis Obomsawin Theatre as part of a series of National Film Board (NFB) screenings every Thursday in Montreal.
Theater of Life, released in 2016, was screened to mark the International Day of Italian Cuisine. The film documents the Refettorio Ambrosiano, a soup kitchen created for Italy's culinary Expo Milano 2015, an international exhibition of food and sustainability. In this kitchen, gourmet meals from surplus food produced at the Expo were repurposed into gourmet meals for refugees, recovering addicts, former sex workers and others facing food insecurity.
The film is set in a refectory, or dining hall, repurposed from an abandoned theatre. Once a backdrop for performances, it became a space of culinary ingenuity where the world’s most elite chefs collaborate to combat food waste and nourish the city’s most food insecure.
Theatre of Life isn’t just a story of culinary creativity; it’s a look into human experiences. In one scene, three-Michelin-star chef Alain Ducasse uses plum pits to make gelato. The moment cuts to juxtaposition with a refugee sharing his story of addiction and mental illness at a communal table where food is being shared. It’s a contrast of excess and scarcity, privilege and deprivation. It’s a testament to consumption and waste and the role of food in our community for sustenance and connection.
In another moment, an older man in a wheelchair strums Bob Dylan’s “Like a Rolling Stone” in Italian, the song’s unpolished rendition delivering particular emphasis on the lines: “How does it feel / To be without a home / Like a complete unknown / Like a rolling stone?”
As the only song in the film, the lines feel deliberate. The words seem to mirror the realities of those gathered at the Refettorio, reflecting the shared struggles of people whose lives have been uprooted. Many visitors to the soup kitchen have experienced homelessness due to economic hardship, refugee status or personal tragedy. As struggles are acknowledged and shared across a community, the feelings of “a complete unknown” lessen.
For the chefs involved, this project was a natural extension of their craft.
“It’s so easy for restaurants to donate just one cake a month,” Danish chef Redzepi said in the documentary. Redzepi is a co-owner of the three-Michelin star restaurant Noma, in Copenhagen.
“For them, it's nothing; for a refugee, that might feel like more,” Redzepi said.
Marianne Dupuis, a teacher and home cook who attended the screening, described the process as akin to a socially conscious episode of Chopped, with chefs transforming whatever ingredients were available into fine dining.
“Chefs are natural caretakers, they show affection through cooking,” Dupuis said. This shared philosophy of nurturing through food connected the chefs featured in the film.
“We have an innate need to feed people—to make their day better, help them relax or energize them,” Redzepi said in the film.
The culinary display was not only practical but also historical. Many iconic dishes were born out of necessity during times of scarcity. The chefs' work at the Refettorio mirrored this ethos, transforming food destined for waste into modest, simple, beautiful dishes.
“The transformation of wasted food to gastronomy—it’s chemistry,” audience member Martin Jennies said.
“To recover food waste and help people eat together in a country where community is so important—it's far from a choice, but it brings dignity to it,” said Marie Bergeron, who attends NFB viewings every week.
At its core, Theatre of Life reminds us of our shared responsibility. While its message resonates globally, it encourages viewers to rethink food waste in their kitchens.
“It sparked creativity—to avoid waste and be more ingenious with my scraps,” Dupuis said. “It reminded me how lucky we are to have scraps to throw away.”
