Stories on a Plate is a short documentary that follows host Rita Khan across three Turkish cities — Kars, Mardin, and Istanbul — to ask how climate shapes the way people cook. In Kars, where the snow doesn't leave for months, the food is built for cold: roasted goose prepared only after the first snowfall, dishes thick with fat and heat. In Mardin, summer is preserved on the rooftops in solar kitchens, where peppers and eggplants dry in the sun for the winter ahead. In Istanbul, the same questions get answered differently: street food on one corner, fine dining on the next, both pulling from the same weather and the same history. The film argues that food isn't just culture. It's how people answer the seasons.
Director & Scriptwriter
Genre
Short documentary
Released date
2026
Production year
2026
Filming Locations:
Turkey
Creative Approach
This documentary is structured as a journey, not a survey. Rita moves city to city, the weather shifts under her feet, and the story builds from what each place forces her to taste. We didn't want a food documentary that explains. We wanted one that travels.
Concept and Style
The look is observational and close to the ground. Most of the documentary is shot in the kitchens, the markets, and the streets where the cooking actually happens. No staged interviews. The camera stays with Rita as she meets the cooks, eats what they make, and figures out what the food is trying to say.
On this Project
I had never worked on anything related to food before, but Al Jazeera 360 assigned me to direct this short documentary, and I had three days to research and write the script. I dove in and found angles I didn't expect. How weather shapes not just what we eat but how we cook it. The film was shot across three Turkish cities, each with its own weather, culture, and rhythm, and directing it meant adapting on the ground in real time. It was hard, and it taught me a lot.
