'Watch It. Eat It' — NYC Food Film Festival Returns To The Big Apple

The sixth annual NYC Food Film Festival returns to New York City this month, offering food-loving movie-goers the unique experience of tasting what they see on-screen, from Oct. 17 to 21.

The film festival, hosted by and benefiting the Food Bank for New York City, in association with the James Beard Foundation, features 40 food films, 18 world premieres, and more than 100 foods and drinks at all six events.

While the food films alone are surely worth the price of admission, the uniqueness of the NYC Food Film Festival comes from the food served during the movie. While watching each of the films at an event, servers provide attendees with samples of the exact foods that they are viewing, allowing viewers to fully immerse themselves in what is happening on-screen.

Highlights of the festival include The Lowcountry Oyster Roast, featuring 20,000 South Carolina oysters freshly harvested in Bulls Bay and a sideboard of Lowcountry dishes by chef Robert Stehling of Charleston's Hominy Grill. The I ♥ Japan event features several premieres, such as Ramen Dreams, during which the film's star chef Keizo Shimamoto will cook and serve his legendary ramen in the U.S. for the first time and New York Cooks for Tohoku with tastings to coincide with the documentary that followings chef Daniel Boulud leading chefs Bill Telepan, Francois Payard, Floyd Cardoz, Tadashi Ono, Michael Romano, and Craig Koketsu into Japan after the tsunami in 2011 to prepare meals for 2,500 evacuees.

The festival also features the return of the Food Porn Party, which includes screenings of extreme food close-ups and food burlesque.

Locations for the NYC Food Festival vary depending on the event, and include New York Distilling Company (located at The Shanty Bar) and IndieScreen, both located in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and AMC Village 7 Theatres in Manhattan's East Village. Tickets range from $50 to $500, depending on the event.

Nikki Maniscalco is a Junior Writer at The Daily Meal. Follow her on Twitter @NikkiMarie2116