Some meals and some movies are good for what ails you. Acting is not only in the blood of us humans. (Sony Pictures Classics via AP). But the hunters' earthy endeavor isn't as simple as it seems. The hunters’ loving devotion to their dogs and their obsession with the thrill of the hunt even as many of them push 90-years-old, is immensely charming. The movie gives viewers a glimpse into the truffle hunters’ lives as the outside world’s booming business gently knocks on their door. Four stars out of four. Yet the film mostly resists the drama, choosing instead to focus on these four men who symbolize the way things used to be: just men and their dogs in the forest. Let’s find out all about Truffle Shuffle’s growth since their appearance on the show, […] Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw’s documentary The Truffle Hunters, the story of old men who hunt for Alba truffles in northern Italy, is a gentle and unassuming portrait of the profession. It speaks to the mythology of the truffle itself: Some hunters believe the delicacy grows according to lightning … The documentary “Sisters With Transistors,” narrated by Laurie Anderson, brings the stories of women who pioneered electronic music to a new generation. Or will they prove the movies still have a bright future? In the same sense that Jiro Dreams Of Sushi finds spiritual clarity in precise cuts of high-quality tuna, The Truffle Hunters takes a rare and exotic delicacy—the Alba white truffle—and turns it into an elegy for a simpler, pre-technological way of life. The Sports Report: Former USC Song Girls describe a toxic culture. We see — via dog cam — like one of the hunters’ dogs when he's let out of the car and runs down a path, panting. Aurelio, 84, dines with his companion, Birba, sitting on the table. “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba” and its blockbuster success, explained. And the long-haired Angelo, a former circus acrobat, has given up the hunting lifestyle in a huff, clacking away at a typewriter, writing a manifesto of sorts as to how greed has corrupted the pursuit. “The Truffle Hunters," Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw’s exquisitely charming documentary about old Italian men who scavenge truffles and the dogs they're bound to, lists the canines with the appropriate respect in the end credits. Each time the hunters go hunting for truffles, they go with two dogs: an older, seasoned truffle-hunting dog, and a younger dog learning how to hunt. In between backwoods trips where their dogs smell their way to the high-priced delicacies, the hunters live humbly in old country homes. Just as last year’s beekeeping beauty “Honeyland,” “The Truffle Hunters” is a richly allegorical documentary of a vanishing agricultural pastime. Deep in the forests of Piedmont, Italy, a handful of men, seventy or eighty years young, hunt for the rare and expensive white Alba truffle--which to date has resisted all of modern science's efforts at cultivation. Because of all the deceit and dog murders involved in truffle hunting, truffle hunters can be very solitary and paranoid when they do their work. Higher up, still, are the Michelin-starred restaurants and auction houses that feast on the hunters' finds. This humble-looking, aromatic mushroom isn’t just a delicacy for gourmands and foodies; it’s a decadent status symbol, shaved tableside, elevating a humble bowl of pasta or an egg to a food of the gods. And, to some degree, it is. The Piedmont truffle hunters also spend a lot of time outdoors with only their fungi-hunting dogs for company, so they’re not the most socially well-adjusted bunch. “Dogs are innocent,” he writes. The film, which earned a spot on the documentary Oscars shortlist, is codirected by Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw, who also served as the film’s cinematographers. The It List: Charming 'Truffle Hunters' doc is for foodies and dog lovers, 'Raya and the Last Dragon' debuts, original 'Real World' cast reunites and the best in pop culture the week of March 1, 2021 When Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw decided to make a documentary about the secretive world of Italian truffles, they asked a local … The film, scored by composer Ed Cortes with retro Italian pop mixed in, conjures an otherworldly enchantment. “The Truffle Hunters” is now playing in select theaters and will premiere on VOD this spring. Gregory Kershaw, left, and Michael Dweck are the directors of the documentary “The Truffle Hunters.”, outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, What to know about the potentially historic ceremony, Pictures: USC Song Girls through the years. A rising actor, fake HBO deals and one of Hollywood’s most audacious Ponzi schemes. Deep in the forests of Piedmont, Italy, a handful of men, seventy or eighty years young, hunt for the rare and expensive white Alba truffle-which to date has resisted all of modern science's efforts at cultivation. Before ‘Minari,’ Lee Isaac Chung made his first film in Rwanda. Directed by Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw. With Piero Botto, Sergio Cauda, Maria Cicciù, Aurelio Conterno. In fact, some shots are done with cameras that were carried by dogs to better convey the experience of the animal excavating to find the fungi. ... Movie dogs. What we really lost when Hollywood parties and celebrity chats faded away this year. Nature preserves provide a quiet alternative to national and state parks and a more intimate glimpse of nature. “The Truffle Hunters,” Michael Dweck and Gregory Kershaw’s exquisitely charming documentary about old Italian men who scavenge truffles and the dogs they’re bound to, lists the canines with the appropriate respect in the end credits. Wonder and whimsy is back in the forest. Oscar-nominated director Lee Isaac Chung said he used to be a cinema purist and a little anti-Hollywood. Pioneer documentarian John Grierson defined documentary filmmaking as “the creative treatment of actuality,” and “The Truffle Hunters” is one of the finest and most unique examples of that ethos on screens this year, a cinematic delicacy as rare as the truffle itself. But as soon it’s mentioned that truffle hunter dogs get poisoned, you just know that it’s probably going to happen to someone’s dog in this movie. “If tomorrow something happens, your wisdom would be lost," one man urges Aurelio. Carlo, 88, never seems to stop smiling, especially when he manages to get past his wife (who sternly believes him too old to truffle hunt at night) and slip into the woods with his dog, Titina. Katie Walsh is a Tribune News Service film critic. The only time the film diverges from these exquisite compositions is to give the audience a dog’s-eye view of the hunt, with a camera strapped to a dog’s head as they sniff and dig for treasure. Sergio, terrified of losing his, pounds on his drums for catharsis. “The Truffle Hunters,” a Sony Pictures Classics release, is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for some language. Advertisement As you might imagine, the world of “The Truffle Hunters” isn’t exactly inclusive, which … The founders of the Truffle Shuffle went on to season 12 of the show hoping for a significant investment. This image released by Sony Pictures Classics shows Aurelio Conterno and his dog Birba in a scene from "The Truffle Hunters." Review: ‘Sisters With Transistors’: Breaking barriers with electronic sounds. We have answers to your questions. Those things aren't delicacies, but they're fragile just the same. The dogs, Coda and Ruby did such a great job. “The Truffle Hunters,” which is shortlisted for best documentary at the Academy Awards and which Sony Pictures Classics will release in theaters Friday, is set in the northern Italy forests of Piedmont. This dog is named Birba. One enterprising truffle dealer seems to conduct all of his transactions in dark alleyways, lit by headlights or lamplight spilling from a nearby window. Titina. The documentary follows a few different dogs, owned by a few different elderly truffle hunting experts, showcasing, in a storybook manner, the …