Documentaries

Smoke rises as the aroma of burning oak and slow cooking meat fill the air. Men and women blend secret spices and marinades coaxing delicate flavors. Discerning palates judge the subtleties in search of a barbecue champion.

Fire In The Soul is on a quest to find the world’s perfect barbecue ...

Fire in the Soul is a feature length documentary that will follow the emerging sport of barbecue competition for one year, in the tradition of Endless Summer, On Any Sunday and Pumping Iron. We will accompany "Bubbas Got a Top Secret", "Texas Rib Rangers", Germany’s "Black Forrest Grillers", and other dedicated teams on their quest to be the Grand Champion.

Competitive barbecue has become a culinary ambassador and has found fertile ground in Europe, Asia, and Africa. From the European Barbecue Championships in Switzerland to the 2001 World Barbecue Championship in Cape Town, South Africa, we will take part in new events, sample exotic foods and feel the excitement of international competition.

Our search will bring us to barbecue festivals at river’s edge, over rolling fields and on bustling city streets. We will experience championship competitions that attract hundreds of teams, thousands of spectators and offer big cash prizes. Few can match the awe of the mighty machines these men and women use to create their prized dishes. Against backgrounds of Alpine mountains and red Texas sunsets, an array of shapes, sizes, and off-the-wall contraptions rise out of the field of competition. While barbecue is not an exact science (which would spoil half the fun), the pursuit of the "ultimate pit" is in full swing. Rockets, steam engines, airplanes, pigs, bulls, and automobiles are only a few of the exotic designs that we’ll see in use.

On any weekend, all over the United States, a rich unmistakable aroma reveals a colorful mix of men and women who have found that the art of cooking meats at low temperatures for great lengths of time affords them the rare opportunity to stop and smell the roses, or in this case the ribs. Through their stories, trials and tribulations, we will discover the perfect barbecue and capture a smoldering chunk of Americana.

*PRODUCERS Paul Millar/Chris Triffo *EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Ron Goetz *DIRECTOR Poul-Erik Heilbuth

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