‘Che Café: Saturday Nights in the Kitchen’ is a modest short documentary that serves as a love letter to a student-run café doubling as a punk rock haven. With its rebellious charm, the Che Café isn’t simply a venue – it’s a statement for diversity and fun-loving community gathering.
Merryman’s film doesn’t shy away from the raw, lived-in authenticity of the space. From its rough-around-the-edges vibe, this is a café with purpose and pride. It’s not only about loud music; it’s about being louder than the powers that have historically silenced dissent. The Che Café stands tall as a bastion for people of colour, queer, and gender-diversity – a sanctuary of resistance wrapped in punk’s scrappy ethos.
The cafe is introduced to viewers by Storm, whose passion for the Café practically leaps off the screen, speaking with fierce pride about its purpose and mission. The cafe is also a powerful stage where meals are cooked and delivered to refugee and migrant communities at the San Ysidro border. It’s activism on a plate, served hot.
Yes, the film’s budget is as threadbare as the venue itself, but that’s part of its charm. This isn’t about polish; it’s about passion. Merryman captures the Café’s liberal, and proudly inclusive spirit, making it a welcoming introduction for anyone who walks through its doors – or watches this short.
‘Che Café: Saturday Nights in the Kitchen’ doesn’t aim to dazzle; it aims to inspire. It’s a celebration of what happens when music, activism, and community collide under one roof. Cool, proud, and unflinchingly real.
