Gestul / Le Geste is a collaborative film developed in Timișoara during the “Gusturi în schimbare” (Changing Tastes) gastronomic residency, hosted by CRIES within the LA PAS / Slowing Down programme. It is part of the GospodinA doctoral research (UR Traverses / CIPA, Université de Liège; ERG, Brussels).
The project starts from a question: what power do we still hold, through our everyday food gestures, to prevent or reverse the effects of climate collapse, and what can the past teach us about surviving it? It draws on the shortages of socialist Romania in the 1980s, which we read as a rehearsal for future crises, and on conversations with local stakeholders, from researchers and producers to practitioners of community-supported agriculture.
The film imagines a future in which scarcity has returned, for different reasons, and follows a character who searches the present for the food gesture that might change the course of things. Its alternative endings, developed with participants in Timișoara, explore two paths: a “living carbon” future, in which everyday gestures alter the trajectory, and a “fossil carbon” future, in which they do not.
The film premiered during the LA PAS festival in Timișoara on 10 October 2026. The scientific aim of the project is to document food-related actions and replicable practices that can inform further research.
Project carried out within the gastronomic residency “Gusturi în schimbare” (Changing Tastes), organised by the association CRIES as part of the LA PAS / Slowing Down project, a component of the “Repere în cultură” programme, funded by the Municipality of Timișoara through the Centrul de Proiecte. With the support of the Traverses research unit (CIPA), Université de Liège, and the association transition·s ASBL.
Filmul GESTUL, 2026
Jurnal de rezidenta – RARES CRAIUT
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_L3QKJ4_5ebDdjyBJjfxs4bu4mhrWNKf7l0i9z6IWsM/edit?usp=sharing
