Kitchen Stories

Kitchen Stories (SalmerfraKjøkkenet), 2003

Norway-Sweden, 35mm, 95’, Color, Norwegian-Swedish

Cast: Joachim Calmeyer, Tomas Norström, Reine Brynolfsson

In Kitchen Stories, Hamer gives us a humorous twist on the contradiction between human relations and the cold nature of science. In the years following World War II, the Swedish Home Research Institute believed in the necessity of producing multifunctional kitchen designs that would help save on effort and money. In order to produce more efficient designs, Folke Nilsson, one of their employees, is sent out to observe the kitchen routines of Isak, a Norwegian bachelor and stubborn farmer who has secluded himself from the outside world.By the rules of the institution, Folke is not allowed to speak to the man he observes nor help him while he cooks. Anunexpected, delightfuldialogue develops between Folke, who is eager in doing his research job, and Isak,
in whose kitchen the former is stationed.