Matthew Salleh

Barbecue is about more than grilling a piece of meat. It’s a ritual performed religiously across the world. For some it’s a path to salvation. It is the pride of nations. And the stories told around the fires become a way to bring the world together.

A contemplative odyssey across our planet, looking at the simple and extraordinary ways that dogs influence our daily lives. Former child soldiers in Uganda. The local pub in a Scottish town. A dog walker on the streets of Istanbul. A kaleidoscope of unconventional portraits from fascinating locations. People need dogs, and perhaps they need us, but what do humans do to deserve the unconditional love they provide?

At a school for the blind in Laos, children who cannot see are raised away from their families. For many, their parents have abandoned them, as the difficulty of raising a blind child in impoverished Laos is too much to bear. Their failing sight is often treatable, with the cure sometimes as simple as a pair of proper glasses.

A contemporary portrait of America, told through a collection of stories observed within the walls of former Pizza Hut buildings across the country. These nostalgic spaces hold memories of a bygone era, but through the power of transformation, they provide something new and special for the communities that continue to flow through them. From an LGBTQ+ church in Florida, to a karaoke bar in Texas, to a cannabis dispensary in rural Colorado, these modern-day portraits are paralleled with the origin story of Pizza Hut – one of America's most iconic brands, and the two brothers who founded the company in Wichita, Kansas in 1958.

In Central Texas, Barbecue is more than a way to cook meat - it's a way of life, a path to salvation, and a sure-fire way to start an argument at the dinner table. This documentary covers five barbecue establishments.