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Word of Mouth, Local Stories is a food-travel video web-series.

It is a celebration of artisanal food production and traditional handmade food methods.

The spotlight is on local people who are producing high quality food that make you hum like a happy bird!

The project has been fortunate enough to be internationally recognised. The series (episode 1-5) won Silver Award, Online Series at the 2019 Telly Awards. The short film (episode 6) was a finalist at Austin Indie Fest and an official selection at several other international film festivals (Kinofilm 16th Manchester International Short Film & Animation Festival, Best Short Fest, Europa Film Festival, Miami Independent Film Festival, Huatulco Film&Food Festival, Med FF, International Online Web Fest, Short Film Reviews Festival).

I’m very honoured as this project is purely from the heart and completely grass roots: no brands, no financial gain, not even a camera crew… just me, my camera, my mates (friends) and the generous people who were happy to be a part of it.

“Allow me to re-introduce myself…”

My name is Tak. I’m a Japanese-American-Australian filmmaker with a curious soul.

As a little rascal fortunate enough to grow up with a blend of cultures in different countries, I was fascinated by the different customs and food in each country. The difference in smell, colors, sound and taste were spell-binding.

At a certain point in my life, I understood how much discrimination, fear and antagonism exist between some cultures. I found it very hard to digest this even when I understood how the cogs worked to repel one culture from another and how inherent prejudice against certain cultures were spawned from it.

In my mind, as naïve as it sounds, every person in every culture wants the same thing: we all cherish the important people in our lives: family and friends; humor goes a long way, especially in distressing situations, we seek safety and everyone eats!

Yup, we all have to eat, right?

It sounds dorky but I firmly believe people can understand other cultures and different perspectives if we sat down and shared the same food. Understanding breeds appreciation and appreciation leads to empathy. Of course, solving political problems takes more than sharing a dish but it’s one step forward.

The first thing Bill Clinton asked visiting dignitaries to the White House was, “are you hungry?” He didn’t want to negotiate, debate political matters with HANGRY guests (HANGRY =  HUNGRY and ANGRY). Imagine a trade war between countries because the head of the State was hangry during negotiation!

Word of Mouth has nothing to do with politics. This website documents my travels and sheds a spotlight on unsung local stories via food n flavors.

It’s not necessarily a blog about sharing recipes, nor is it a cooking show. It is a story about ordinary people who are passionate about food. It is a story about those keeping their food traditions alive, it’s about those who are propelling the tradition to new heights and it’s also about those that are doing something unusual. Simply put, it’s about those who are passionate about food and those that care!

Launched in Dec 2018, the blog comes from a place of sincerity and wants to connect people via food. The project has started with stories from Italy, specifically Sicily. The entire Italy is of course a food-lovers dream, including Sicily which has a wealth of unsung food stories.

In the blog section, the posts will be casual. I’ll write about awesome local flavors I come across in my travel. I’ll try not to sound like an idiot but I probably will… warning in advance!

Although I’m the only person uploading content at the moment, I’m keen to build a community of like-minded people who want to share stories from all around the world! The more the merrier! Party time!

Feel free to get in touch with me if you have any ideas for a story (whether it be words, miming, dancing, photos or filming), if you wanna collaborate or if you just wanna say hi.  

Enjoy!