When DC restaurateur José Andrés isn’t checking in on his restaurants—including DC establishments China Chilcano, Jaleo, Oyamel, and Zaytinya—he’s wading through rubble-strewn disaster areas to deliver food to desperate populations.
Come May 27, you can catch a glimpse into his humanitarian efforts on Disney+, which will begin streaming “We Feed People,” a 90-minute documentary on Andrés and his DC-based nonprofit World Central Kitchen, reports the Washington Business Journal.
Directed by the Oscar-winning filmmaker Ron Howard, the National Geographic film debuted last month at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. So far, it’s received favorable reviews. Variety’s Joe Leydon described it as “technically polished and emotionally stirring,” while The Hollywood Reporter’s Daniel Fienberg called it “consistently interesting” and “pragmatic enough not to be exclusively worshipful.”
“Howard makes sure to give ample time to figures like WCK CEO Nate Mook, the man who has to execute Andrés’ ambitious plans, and also to countless on-the-ground workers and fixers—the people in charge of driving supplies across flooded roads and establishing working kitchens amid rubble—and various local chefs who saw, through Andrés’ burgeoning infrastructure, opportunities to do good themselves,” adds Fienberg.
The film comes at a timely moment, given that World Central Kitchen is currently in Eastern Europe, providing roughly 300,000 meals a day to refugees fleeing the conflict spurred by Russia’s invasion into Ukraine. On Sunday, Andrés tweeted, “With one plate of food at a time, we may not end this war…but at the very least we are going to make sure that people don’t suffer more. So proud of our @WCKitchen team in Kharkiv, serving every day on the front lines.”
