IBerkeley, California
Emily Winston's Quest
From a homesick home baker to the founder of Boichik Bagels — declared America's best by The New York Times. Berkeley to Los Angeles, one circle at a time.
An Official Selection of Curiosity
The Film
IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT BAGEL follows Emily Winston, founder of Boichik Bagels, whose Berkeley bakery is redefining American bagel culture. Her journey anchors four narrative threads: her own meteoric rise; the bagel’s 400-year history as a symbol of Jewish survival; the debate over bagel perfection; and a worldwide bagel craft renaissance emerging in the most unexpected places on earth.
Director Marty Jackson's Bagel Documentary travels across continents; from Kraków to Shenzhen, Madrid to Sydney, Lima to Mexico City, meeting artisans perfecting the boil, the chew, the crust, and uncovering a world where the simplest ingredients become vessels for tradition and human connection.
Over 200 million Americans eat bagels annually. The film enters through universally relatable food, then touches deeper themes of cultural identity, resilience, and memories.
A bread born of persecution that became a worldwide phenomenon.
four threads, one bread
The Narratives
IIFive Continents
The Global Bagel Craft Movement
From traditional bakeries in New York and Montreal to artisanal shops in Krakow, Plymouth, and Los Angeles and the emerging scenes in Dallas, Denver, Berkeley and beyond.
IIIKrakow, Poland
Krakow, 1610 → Today
Forbidden to own ovens, Jewish bakers boiled their bread in defiance. Four centuries later, Jonathan Ornstein leads a Jewish cultural revival 43 miles from Auschwitz.
IVEverywhere
The Nature of Perfection
What makes a bagel perfect? Through intimate interviews, the answer is never the same twice — it is memory, identity, and the first bite you ever took.
“The bagel’s circular shape, with no beginning and no end, became a symbol of eternal life and continuity.”
from the field notes