{"id":167293,"date":"2026-03-18T15:13:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T15:13:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/167293\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T15:13:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T15:13:36","slug":"the-story-of-bloodroot-screens-in-greenpoint-march-22-with-bechdel-project-brooklyn-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/167293\/","title":{"rendered":"The Story of Bloodroot\u2019 screens in Greenpoint March 22 with Bechdel Project \u2022 Brooklyn Paper"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\"Bloodroot\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Annie Laurie Medonis, director of the documentary \u201cA Culinary Uprising: The Story of Bloodroot,\u201d spoke to Brooklyn Paper about the film and its upcoming Greenpoint screening. <\/p>\n

Photos courtesy of Julie Zimmerman<\/p>\n

Before it became a documentary, \u201cA Culinary Uprising: The Story of Bloodroot\u201d<\/a> was a feeling \u2014 one that hit director Annie Laurie Medonis the moment she stepped inside the storied queer feminist restaurant. Now, that feeling is coming to Greenpoint.<\/p>\n

\u201cA Culinary Uprising: The Story of Bloodroot,\u201d directed by Annie Laurie Medonis and originally released in March 2025, will be presented in collaboration with the Bechdel Project<\/a>, marking the organization\u2019s first partnership with the film\u2019s team. The event<\/a>, on March 22 at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. at 252 Green St. #3, offers Brooklyn audiences a preview of a story rooted in feminist history, food activism and collective care.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The documentary centers on Bloodroot<\/a>, a queer, feminist vegetarian restaurant and bookstore that operated for nearly 50 years in Bridgeport, Connecticut, by Selma Miriam and Noel Furie. Once called \u201ca salon for activists,\u201d the place was home to political discourse with no cash register, waitress and patrons bus their own tables.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But as Medonis explained to Brooklyn Paper, the film reaches far beyond a single establishment.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

\u201cThe documentary is really about Bloodroot, and the community it built around food, activism, and connection,\u201d she said.\n<\/p>\n

Medonis first encountered Bloodroot in 2017 during a road trip stop. What began as a casual visit quickly became something more profound.\u00a0
\n\"Bloodroot\"Award-winning filmmaker Annie Laurie Medonis was infatuated by Bloodroot\u2019s owners and its feminist history.Photo courtesy of Julie Zimmerman\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI immediately was like, what the heck? This place is awesome,\u201d she recalled. \u201cI fell in love with it pretty immediately \u2014 the pictures on the walls, the experience of it being so connected to women, female empowerment.\u201d<\/p>\n

That initial spark turned into a full-fledged project a few years later. Encouraged by a friend and driven by a growing sense of urgency in Miriam\u2019s growing age, Medonis began filming in December 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI realized I don\u2019t want to hold off anymore,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is going to happen now.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

What followed was an immersive and deeply personal filmmaking process. Medonis described her time documenting Bloodroot as both \u201crefreshing and enlightening,\u201d shaped by the presence of women who had lived through \u2014 and helped shape \u2014 the feminist movements of the 1970s.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt like I was home,\u201d she said. \u201cBeing with women that paved the way for the rest of us\u2026 showed me something I didn\u2019t know could exist.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Miriam, a co-founder of Bloodroot, whose legacy looms large in the film, was central to Medonis\u2019s experience. Miriam died<\/a> in February 2025, but her voice and philosophy remain embedded throughout the documentary.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Bloodroot\"Selma Miriam, one of Bloodroot\u2019s co-founders, passed away in February 2025.Photo courtesy of Julie Zimmerman<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an honor to be able to share with people this beautiful story of these amazing women,\u201d Medonis said. \u201cIt all comes back to connection, community and love at the core.\u201d<\/p>\n

The film\u2019s Greenpoint<\/a> screening feels particularly fitting. According to Medonis, Brooklyn\u2019s longstanding culture of grassroots art and community spaces mirrors the ethos that sustained Bloodroot for decades.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBrooklyn just has a strong culture of independent, community-driven art,\u201d she said. \u201cThis film is about what it actually takes to build something like that over time.\u201d<\/p>\n

That alignment made the collaboration with the Bechdel Project a natural one. Founded in 2016, the organization had built its mission around amplifying underrepresented voices and reshaping cultural narratives through storytelling \u2014 values that closely parallel Bloodroot\u2019s history.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Bloodroot\"Noel Furie (left), co-founder of Bloodroot.Photo courtesy of Julie Zimmerman<\/p>\n

For both the filmmaker and organizers, the event is meant to be more than a one-time viewing. It\u2019s an invitation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThis film is really about bringing people together,\u201d Medonis said. \u201cWe invite people to come to a screening, bring it to their community, and stay connected as it continues to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Screenings of \u201cA Culinary Uprising: The Story of Bloodroot,\u201d hosted by Bechdel Project, will take place on March 22 at 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. at 252 Green St. #3. Tickets are available here<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Annie Laurie Medonis, director of the documentary \u201cA Culinary Uprising: The Story of Bloodroot,\u201d spoke to Brooklyn Paper…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":167294,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[68638,68639,32486,98,100,99,2025,2472,4619,749,2422,68640,45893,610,267,9,24,12,63,904],"class_list":["post-167293","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-annie-laurie-medonis","tag-bloodroot","tag-borough","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-community-news","tag-documentary","tag-events","tag-film","tag-greenpoint","tag-kc","tag-kings-county","tag-local","tag-local-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-nyc","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=167293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/167293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/167294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=167293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=167293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=167293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}