There are a lot of reasons to go to the first New York City Food Film Festival, but the chance to watch Buffet — All You Can Eat Las Vegas at the Water Taxi Beach is for us chief among them. Judging from its trailer, above, we think the movie looks like a snarky study of the capital city of American gluttony, complete with shots of waving flags on huge Diamondvision screens and cutaways to pigs feeding at a trough. Given that the festival will be held at one of the most unmistakably New York settings, directly across from midtown on the other side of the East River, and sure to be filled with supercilious foodies, there is bound to be a keen snob pleasure to be had. But the other movies in the festival promise more wholesome joys.

The festival schedule includes recent food-movie classics like the historically minded Hamburger America and the utterly ridiculous Crazy Legs Conti: The Zen of Competitive Eating, but also making their debuts are several other documentaries we’re psyched to watch. Asparagus the Movie looks oddly brilliant, a study in vegetable obsession, and American Beer (A Bockumentary), about a group of New Yorkers who travel the country trying all its best beers, is obviously a natural for the venue. (Nearly all of the films have trailers available at the festival Website.) Most of the film screenings come paired with their edible subjects: You can eat hamburgers during Hamburger America, asparagus during Asparagus the Movie, currywurst during Best of the Wurst, and so on. Unless you’re planning an amphibious assault, though, you need to move fast: Though the movies are free, food tickets are selling now, with a second block going on sale on June 1.

The New York City Food Film Festival