Anatomy Of a Springroll

"Food is everyone's first language," says Vietnamese-born immigrant Paul Kwan in this refreshingly innovative documentary about Kwan's experiences as a stranger in a strange land. Combining poetry, animation, haunting video imagery, and a dazzling fictional dream sequence (in which Kwan sees himself running a fast-food operation called Springroll, Inc., which churns out ­springrolls to go), the filmmaker explores the differences between the more individual-oriented cooking experience in America, and the family approach to food preparation in Vietnam. Hailing from a rather large family himself (one of his father's 24 children from four wives), Kwan deals with his own isolation at least partially through the joys of cooking, from visiting the bustling San Francisco produce markets with his mother to sampling the aromatic wares of street vendors hawking soup. During the second half of the film, Kwan returns to Saigon where he finds the home of his childhood; delights in the sights, sounds, and smells of Vietnamese food stands; and comes to the realization that the vitality of a culture is "preserved through hearts and hands." While many documentaries have settled into the excellent (but safe) format established by Ken Burns in The Civil War series, it's great to see someone taking a different tack and succeeding. Winner of a Special Jury Award at the National Educational Film & Video Festival, Anatomy of a Springroll reminds us that documentary filmmaking is occasionally an art form. Highly recommended for larger collections. Editor's Choice. (R. Pitman)