by David Templeton
I didn’t think I’d be that interested in a film about wine,” says filmmaker David Kennard. The esteemed Mill Valley documentarian and director (Cosmos and The Hero’s Journey: The World of Joseph Campbell), is not revealing a personal truth. He’s quoting. “People have said that to me I don’t know how many times,” he says with a laugh, describing what people often say to him after catching one of his wine-themed films, particularly either 2012’s A Year in Burgundy, or last year’s A Year in Champagne. “They tell me they didn’t believe they could possibly be interested in the subject of winemakers, or how wine is made. But they invariably say, ‘But I did come see it, God! It was absolutely fascinating. I was completely riveted.’ As a documentarian for over 45 years, I have to say that’s probably the nicest compliment anyone has ever paid me—that they didn’t think they’d like my film, but then they did.”
Kennard, who learned the documentary-maker’s craft while working for the BBC in England, will have another opportunity to defy expectations when he presents A Year in Champagne at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center later this month. It will be the third show in a series of four featured in the Wine & Film series, co-sponsored by the Film Center and Wine Enthusiast magazine. The first film in the month-long event taking place on Thursdays in May, was the comedy Bottle Shock, with Alan Rickman and Chris Pine. Next up, on May 14, is SOMM, a nail-biting documentary about a group of professional sommeliers—wine-tasting experts and professionals often associated with fine restaurants—all taking one of the hardest tests in the world, the exam to be named a Master Sommelier by the mysterious Court of Master Sommeliers, in England.
Third in the series, on May 21, is A Year in Champagne, with Kennard appearing alongside the film’s onscreen guide, wine expert Martine Saunier, with a post-film conversation moderated by Wine Enthusiast editor Virginie Boone. Appropriately enough, all events in the series will be followed by wine tastings.
“With our film of course,” Kennard says, “we will be including a tasting of some delicious champagnes, so that will be very special.”
A Year in Champagne, in which Saunier brings us up close and personal with several winemakers in France’s legendary Champagne region, is the second of three similar films. A Year in Burgundy was released in 2012 to spectacular reviews, as was Champagne.
“The third one,” Kennard announces, “was just completed a few days ago! It will be called, A Year in Port, and that of course was filmed in Portugal, featuring the city of Porto, and it is all about Port wines.”
In addition to Saunier’s onscreen presence and familiar camaraderie with the filmmakers she spends time with, Kennard himself provides the film’s voice-over narration. Born in England, his voice bears a strong similarity to that of Richard Attenborough.
“I’m more often compared to David Attenborough,” Kennard says with a laugh, referring to his fellow BBC filmmaker, best known for the Life on Earth television series. Asked who his audience is for the A Year in … films, Kennard says there is not just one answer to the question.
“We like to think there are actually three different audiences for these films,” he says. “The most obvious are the wine lovers and foodies. People who are interested in good food and good wine are bound to be interested in these films. Then there are the people who enjoy traveling and who are interested in beautiful and fascinating places in Europe. In these films, we visit the region four times, once in each season. Very few travel films, let alone wine films, will show you a place over the course of an entire year. I’ve been flattered that many have remarked on the beauty of the cinematography.
“The third audience—and this might seem surprising—are filmgoers who like movies about fascinating people. In making the films, we pick six families or small organizations that produce the wines we are looking at in that film, and we get to know them and spend time with them. They are very, very interesting people, with very colorful and rich lives and cultures.
“So then,” he adds, “I’d have to say the audience for these films is anyone who loves food and wine, loves to see the world, and loves to meet new and interesting people. And I suppose that’s just about everyone, isn’t it?”
The fourth and final film in the Film & Wine series is not a documentary, though it might seem like one at first glance. Corked, written and directed by Ross Clendenen and Paul Hawley, was filmed in the “mockumentary style familiar to fans of Spinal Tap, Best in Show and The Office.
“I liked the script a lot,” says actor Jeffrey Weissman, (whose film credits include Pale Rider, Twilight Zone: The Movie and Back to the Future II & III). “As someone who’s lived in wine country for much of his life, married to a woman who studied viticulture and enology at UC Davis—and who enjoys a good glass of wine myself—the script really resonated.”
The film is set in Sonoma County, and takes a look at the (not actually real) Golden Cluster Award, a prize sought by four very different wineries, large and small, all operating and sometimes competing to create customers, credibility, large profits—and maybe even a really good bottle of wine or two. The large cast of characters includes a wealthy young winery owner who knows nothing about wine, to the high-strung winery manager sweating the little stuff and big stuff (like finding a dead body in one of the wine tanks) to the good-old-boy vineyard manager who’s obsessed with grape-eating birds and who only drinks beer.
Acclaimed for his improvisational skills and ability to impersonate classics, Weissman landed the role of Gerry Hannon, loosely based on John Hawley, co-writer Paul Hawley’s father, the pioneering Healdsburg winemaker best known for his work with Clos du Bois winery.
“I added a lot of little tidbits of my own, improvised lines borrowed from my own wine knowledge,” he says. “I think I improvised maybe 30 percent of the stuff you see me do in the film. Some of it was inspired by watching John Hawley do some of the same things for real I was asked to do on film.”
Along with filmmakers Hawley and Clendenen, Weissman will be on hand for a post-film conversation, taking time from his current big project, producing the Back to the Future Cruise to End Parkinson’s. The fundraiser, created in association with Team Fox, sails this November from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Haiti, Jamaica and Cozumel, and will feature actors and crew from the BTTF films, and special events.
“I’ve been wanting to do this cruise for 10 years,” Weissman says. “I could never let it go, and now, with the 30th anniversary of Back to the Future coming up, it seemed like the perfect time. So I’m pretty busy with that, but I’m delighted to be getting a chance to show off Corked, a movie I feel especially fond of.
“To this day, I run into people who saw it somewhere,” he says, “and still don’t realize it’s not a real documentary. If my performance had anything to do with it, then I’m very proud of that.”
Ask David if he likes red or white at
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