Our fourth film in Whose History?, ‘eJoy of Cooking’, is a little different from the others in that it combines live scenes with animation. We’re delighted and excited to be working with the brilliant animator and illustrator Sam Butterworth, who is creating the animated scenes for us. The film, based on interviews with students from China currently studying at the University of Liverpool, explores their experience of the food cultures of China and the UK.

Our interviewees gave us some fantastic images – such as Shanghai’s strawberry spaghetti – and it was clear that animation offered us a different kind of creative freedom in bringing these to life for the screen. So, Sam’s animation will blend with Whose History? collaborator Eric Lybeck’s vivid still and moving images of supermarkets and restaurants in Liverpool, and certain staples of British cuisine, in a film we hope you’ll enjoy watching as much as we’re enjoying making it.

Here you can see Sam’s wonderful character sketches for Sherry and Richard, the characters in ‘eJoy of Cooking’. Check out our Instagram and follow Sam for more examples of her work, and stay tuned here for more background on the inspiration behind this film, coming up soon.