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Coldwater Kitchen

Brian Kaufman (Director), Mark Kurlyandchik (Director)

Filmmakers: Brian Kaufman (Director), Mark Kurlyandchik (Director)
Envoys: Brian Kaufman (Director), Mark Kurlyandchik (Director)

Synopsis: For 30 years, Chef Jimmy Lee Hill has dedicated himself to the gourmet culinary training program he leads at Lakeland Correctional Facility in Coldwater, Michigan. The pioneering program gives incarcerated men. a prestigious skill they can take back into the workforce and provides a sense of purpose as they serve their time. As he enters his senior years, tensions arise over Chef Hill’s faith in a particular trainee.

About the Envoys:

Brian Kaufman is the executive video producer for the Detroit Free Press, where he has worked for over a decade to bridge the gap between video journalism and documentary film. His work has been awarded three national Emmy awards and was recently part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning package on President Trump’s proposed border wall with Mexico. His most recent film, “12th and Clairmount,” which tells the story of Detroit’s 1967 riot/rebellion, screened at DOC NYC and Full Frame in 2017. Variety film critic Owen Gleiberman called the film “a revelatory portrait of the city … illuminating and innovatively crafted.”

A Soviet-born, Michigan-bred former journalist and documentary filmmaker, Mark Kurlyandchik honed his filmmaking skills at the UC-Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism under the tutelage of legendary doc filmmakers Jon Else and Orlando Bagwell. Kurlyandchik’s debut feature-length documentary, “Coldwater Kitchen”, which he co-directed with Brian Kaufman, premiered at DOC NYC in 2022 and won a James Beard Media Award in 2023. Previously as a camera operator, Kurlyandchik lent his skills to HBO’s “San Francisco 2.0” and Netflix’s “137 Shots.” During his tenure at the Detroit Free Press, Kurlyandchik’s short films earned two Michigan Emmy awards and his written work has earned multiple awards from the Society of Professional Journalists.