Oscar-nominated “RBG” filmmakers Betsy West and Julie Cohen are spotlighting another icon for their next project. The duo are making a documentary about chef and author Julia Child for CNN Films and Imagine Documentaries, Variety reports. The tentatively-titled “Julia” will focus on Child’s “unconventional life,” including writing bestselling cookbook “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” when she was almost 50 and her rise to fame as a TV host.
The doc will integrate footage from Child’s on-camera work and interviews with her colleagues, friends, and those she inspired. And fittingly, food will be a focal point. “Food will be a character,” West confirmed. Added Cohen, “It’s not a movie where people are going to want to go to the theater hungry. We’re going to have food cinematography that’s quite different than anything you’ve ever seen.”
Child became passionate about food and cooking when she was living in Paris with her diplomat husband, and studied at Le Cordon Bleu. “The lessons she brought back to the United States were nothing short of a revelation,” the source details. “It was a time when processed and canned food were staples of most American diets; iceberg lettuce, not locally sourced produce, was all the rage; and spaghetti and meatballs was the height of exotic eating. In this gastronomic wasteland, Child helped popularize dishes such as coq au vin and quiche Lorraine with readers, public television viewers and, eventually, a nationwide audience of fans.”
Child taught America how to cook on WGBH’s “The French Chef.” The show ran from 1962-1972 and was syndicated on PBS. She also made appearances on talk shows including “Good Morning America” and Johnny Carson’s “Tonight Show.”
According to Cohen, Child also paved the way for women looking to professionally make their mark in the kitchen. “I don’t think that many girls would have thought of chef as even a possible career choice before Julia Child did it,” she said.
Child died in 2004 at the age of 91.
West and Cohen are directing and producing “Julia.” “RBG’s” Carla Gutierrez will serve as editor. Principal photography is expected to be completed next year.
Last month HBO Max announced a Julia Child narrative pilot starring Joan Cusack. Meryl Streep received an Oscar nod for portraying the chef in Nora Ephron’s “Julie & Julia.”
“RBG,” West and Cohen’s portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at the Oscars last year. It netted over $14 million at the domestic box office, becoming one of the highest-grossing docs since 1982. “RBG” marked West’s directorial debut. Cohen previously helmed several docs including “American Veteran” and “The Sturgeon Queens.”
