East Side Sushi (2014)

Jack and I liked this one, another feel good movie, about Juana (do not say Joo-anna), an immigrant living in East Oakland California with her father and young daughter, who has ambitions to become a sushi chef. The movie earned many festival nominations and wins. Diana Elizabeth Torres as Juana and Yutaka Takeuchi as Aki, the head chef, head up the cast, and the movie has many wins and nominations.

Anthony Lucero makes his feature debut both directing and writing the screenplay, and shot most, if not all, of the movie in his native Oakland, with cinematography by Martin Rosenberg.

The score by Alex Mandel features some taiko drumming and can be streamed on Apple Music, among others, with some tracks available on Soundcloud.

Torres, Takeuchi, Rosenberg, and Mandel have a few other credits but are all new to me.

Eleven years ago, at Vivian's request. I began a list of food movies. She actually recommended this one and it's now number 31 on the list.

Rotten Tomatoes' critics ate it up, averaging 95% and its audiences took a big bite at 83.

We watched it free with our Amazon Prime subscription on August 25.