Before it became a documentary, “A Culinary Uprising: The Story of Bloodroot” was a feeling — one that hit director Annie Laurie Medonis the moment she stepped inside the storied queer feminist restaurant. Now, that feeling is coming to Greenpoint.
“A Culinary Uprising: The Story of Bloodroot,” directed by Annie Laurie Medonis and originally released in March 2025, will be presented in collaboration with the Bechdel Project, marking the organization’s first partnership with the film’s team. The event, 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.
The documentary centers on Bloodroot, a queer, feminist vegetarian restaurant and bookstore that operated for nearly 50 years in Bridgeport, Connecticut, by Selma Miriam and Noel Furie. Once called “a salon for activists,” the place was home to political discourse with no cash register, waitress and patrons bus their own tables.
But as Medonis explained to Brooklyn Paper, the film reaches far beyond a single establishment.
“The documentary is really about Bloodroot, and the community it built around food, activism, and connection,” she said.
Medonis first encountered Bloodroot in 2017 during a road trip stop. What began as a casual visit quickly became something more profound.
“I immediately was like, what the heck? This place is awesome,” she recalled. “I fell in love with it pretty immediately — the pictures on the walls, the experience of it being so connected to women, female empowerment.”
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’s growing age, Medonis began filming in December 2020.
“I realized I don’t want to hold off anymore,” she said. “This is going to happen now.”
What followed was an immersive and deeply personal filmmaking process. Medonis described her time documenting Bloodroot as both “refreshing and enlightening,” shaped by the presence of women who had lived through — and helped shape — the feminist movements of the 1970s.
“It felt like I was home,” she said. “Being with women that paved the way for the rest of us… showed me something I didn’t know could exist.”
Miriam, a co-founder of Bloodroot, whose legacy looms large in the film, was central to Medonis’s experience. Miriam died in February 2025, but her voice and philosophy remain embedded throughout the documentary.
“It’s an honor to be able to share with people this beautiful story of these amazing women,” Medonis said. “It all comes back to connection, community and love at the core.”
The film’s Greenpoint screening feels particularly fitting. According to Medonis, Brooklyn’s longstanding culture of grassroots art and community spaces mirrors the ethos that sustained Bloodroot for decades.
“Brooklyn just has a strong culture of independent, community-driven art,” she said. “This film is about what it actually takes to build something like that over time.”
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 — values that closely parallel Bloodroot’s history.
For both the filmmaker and organizers, the event is meant to be more than a one-time viewing. It’s an invitation.
“This film is really about bringing people together,” Medonis said. “We invite people to come to a screening, bring it to their community, and stay connected as it continues to grow.”
Screenings of “A Culinary Uprising: The Story of Bloodroot,” 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.
