Season X
April 2026 | New York City
The Season at a Glance
Returning for its tenth season, and its first in spring, Ceres expanded across New York City with a diverse program running April 10–15, 2026.
Season 10 was a soft opening: a curated best-of drawn from nine seasons of programming. Ceres returned to favorite works from the festival’s history and paired them with new conversations, venues, and partners.
The festival kicked off on Friday, April 10, in partnership with NYU Culture Fest, the beloved annual celebration of food, culture, and community at NYU’s School of Professional Studies. From there, the week moved through an industry happy hour in Brooklyn, screenings and panels at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, the Museum of Food & Drink in Brooklyn, and UnionDocs in Ridgewood, closing with an NYU Food Studies Alumni evening on April 15 at the department’s test kitchen.
The spring move was intentional. After nine seasons in the fall, Ceres hosted its audience in a season of emergence and new growth — a fitting backdrop for stories about food, culture, identity, and the systems that shape what we eat.
Each event paired curated documentary screenings with rich conversations and immersive food experiences — bringing together filmmakers, chefs, food journalists, and advocates working at the intersection of food and culture.
The virtual festival ran April 16–22, 2026, extending the program’s reach to audiences worldwide.
Program
Season 10 spanned six events across six days, each built in partnership with institutions and communities that share Ceres' commitment to food storytelling.
April 10-15 in-person | April 16-22 virtual
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1:15 to 3:00 PM · NYU Silver Center, 32 Waverly Place, New York · Free (RSVP required)
Ceres opens Season 10 at NYU Culture Fest, the Silver Center’s annual celebration of the global NYU community. The afternoon centers on Vibrant Hong Kong Table, directed by Liza de Guia, following James Beard–nominated chef and cookbook author Christine Wong as she reimagines classic Hong Kong dishes through a plant-based lens.
Following the screening, Wong joins NYU students for a conversation on food, diaspora, and cultural identity, concluding with a live mooncake demonstration and tasting.
Presented in partnership with NYU Steinhardt’s Department of Nutrition and Food Studies and the NYU SPS Tisch Center of Hospitality.
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3:00 to 5:00 PM · Beer Street South, 550 Vanderbilt Ave, Brooklyn · Free
Ten years of Ceres. We're marking the moment with an informal gathering of filmmakers, producers, and food media innovators for drinks, bites, and good company. No agenda, no panels. Come meet your next collaborator. Co-hosted with Slow Food NYC.
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2:30 to 6:30 PM · Museum of the Moving Image, 36-01 35th Ave, Astoria, Queens · Free (RSVP required)
Ceres joins MoMI's Open Worlds program for a short film program about food, seen up close. Four documentaries screen in the Bartos Theater: Grain City, directed by Brett Chapman (UK, 2024), follows a city's grassroots experiment to grow its own wheat; The Raw and the Cooked, directed by Dennis Zhou and Lisa Marie Malloy (US, 2022), documents an Amis family in Taiwan passing down an endangered language through harvest and food; KǪ̀K'ETÌ: Walking with Caribo, directed by Chad Galloway (Canada, 2021, Ceres Season 6 Best Film), bears witness to the Tłı̨chǫ people's relationship with the Bathurst caribou herd; and The Grace, directed by Moira Fett and Natalie Berger (US, 2024), portraits a sustainable salmon fisherwoman navigating a precarious livelihood. Following the screenings, a conversation moderated by Qiana Mickie, Executive Director of the NYC Mayor's Office of Urban Agriculture, with panelist Michael Robinov, Co-Founder and CEO of Farm to People. Reception in the Fox Amphitheater with bites from Brooklyn Granary and Farm to People.
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7:00 to 10:00 PM · Museum of Food & Drink (MOFAD), 55 Water St, 2nd Floor, Brooklyn · $30
Ceres returns to MOFAD for an evening devoted to food as movement, migration, and memory. Three films trace how food travels with people: EAT, directed by Alberto Zúñiga Rodríguez (Mexico, 2019), is a poetic three-minute meditation on how conquests, cultures, and struggles live inside what we eat; Arepas en Bici, directed by Jonah Moshammer and Brennan McGee (US, 2024), follows Chef Victor Aguilera cycling across San Francisco, weaving memories of immigration with his dream of sharing traditional Venezuelan cuisine; and Birria Landia (US, 2026) profiles brothers José and Jesús Moreno, who brought the flavors of Puebla to a beloved Queens food truck. Following the screenings, NYU Food Studies professor Krishnendu Ray, interdisciplinary artist and scholar Sarah K. Khan, and chef and culinary tour guide Esneider Arevalo join a conversation on food, migration, and memory.
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7:30 to 10:00 PM · UnionDocs, 3-52 Onderdonk Ave, Ridgewood, Queens · $18
In partnership with UnionDocs, now in its new Ridgewood home, and Push Projects, a Ridgewood-based arts collective, Ceres brings an evening of documentary film and conversation to the heart of Queens. Four films screen: Zen Brownie, directed by Alison Bartlett (US, 2023), narrated by Jeff Bridges, tells the story of Greyston Bakery's open-hiring model and the Buddhist monks behind it; GUGUTA, directed by Anita Volker (France, 2025), follows a woman in Moldavia preparing a cherry cake tied to Soviet cultural memory; Seaweed Stories, directed by Jake Sumner (US, 2024, Ceres Season 8 Sustainable Future Spirit Award), narrated by Forest Whitaker, takes a global look at seaweed's role in food, sovereignty, and climate solutions; and Barriga Llena, Corazón Contento (Full Belly, Happy Heart), directed by Jordan Rubenstein-Edberg and Marshall Hanig, brings a chorus of stories from the organizers of a grassroots food pantry right here in Ridgewood, Queens, interweaving migration journeys, homemade meals, and the everyday acts of care that bind a community together.
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7:00 to 10:00 PM · NYU Steinhardt Food Lab, 35 W 4th St, 10th Floor, New York · Free (RSVP required)
Season 10 closes at NYU with an evening devoted to foraging, fungi, and the people who spend their lives listening to the land. Three films screen: Dune Forest, directed by Liener Van Hauwaert (Belgium, 2025), follows landscape architect Louis De Jaeger's seven-year mission to transform a dune into a food forest; FOUND: The King of Matsutake Ridge, directed by Anastasia Forde (US, 2023), accompanies chef and forager Philip Manganaro to his secret mushroom sites; and Rice & Grits, directed by Hieu Huynh (US, 2023, Taste Awards Best Micro Short Documentary), is a personal exploration of Vietnamese and Southern culinary traditions in Waycross, Georgia. Following the screenings, Hieu Huynh joins a Q&A, followed by a conversation with wild farmer and chef Philip Manganaro and food systems advocate Leigh Ollman. The evening concludes in the Food Lab with beverages from Dona Chai, founded by NYU alum Amy Rothstein, a cocktail demo by Joe McDowell of Acid Spirits, and tastings prepared by Hieu Huynh and chef Abe Konick. Presented in partnership with NYU Steinhardt's Department of Nutrition and Food Studies.
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The virtual festival extends the Season 10 program worldwide. Films screen on demand for one week; the full lineup will be announced alongside in-person programming.
Time: On demand. Watch anytime during the festival window