SBIFF Premiere: Caffeinated

There are many things that unite us across different worlds, cultures and barriers. One of these many bonds is coffee. Caffeinated doesn’t just explore our coffee culture but it ventures out across oceans and hemispheres to tell the story of coffee from the moment it’s picked until the cup reaches your lips.

“Originally, we wanted to explore the coffee culture in America,” said co-director of the film Hanh Nguyen in a Q&A after the screening. “But we were told if four cities was all we were going to focus on to just stop the film now because there’s much more to the story of coffee than just four cities,” added co-director Vishal Solanki.

An audience that nearly filled the 350 seat theater room had plenty of questions to ask the two filmmakers who clearly displayed they had learned a lot about coffee in the time they spent shooting the documentary with only a $1,400 Sony camera.

“It taught me how to appreciate everything around me…food, the people, how to appreciate everyday life,” said Nguyen. Solanki also gave credit to those baristas who he said take the time to get a cup of coffee just right. “I think passion is the key.”

A moviegoer said that not only did the film made her want to drink a cup of a coffee right there and then, but that it created a newly found appreciation for one of her favorite coffee shops in Santa Barbara, Peet’s Coffee.

Caffeinated had its premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Saturday but the next screening will be Sunday, February 1st at the Metro 4 Theater. For times CLICK HERE.