Chongqing — Ali Nadeem did not go to the cinema expecting to cry. But when the lights came up after Once Upon a Time in the Middle East, the Yemeni postgraduate student at Chongqing University found himself thinking about his mother's cooking, unfinished tomatoes, and the stubborn human instinct to share a meal even when the world is falling apart.
Wen Muye's latest film follows a Chinese chef who opens a restaurant in a conflict zone. The movie has moved audiences with its central refrain: "Eating well is more important than anything." For Ali, the line carried the weight of lived experience.
"I saw myself in some of the characters," he said. "People just want to live their life, go to school, start a family, stick to the essential things."
Coming from Yemen, a country scarred by years of conflict, he recognized the quiet heroism found in ordinary routines.
What struck Ali most was not the explosions or politics, but the food culture woven through the story. Since arriving in Chongqing, he has become an accidental student of Chinese dining, and he sees his own upbringing reflected in it.
"When people eat hotpot, they stay at the same table. The husband and wife work in the same restaurant, sometimes with their kids running around. You feel like you are entering their home," he said.
That intimacy, he explained, mirrors the communal meals of his childhood, when families gathered around shared dishes and mothers scolded children for wasting food.
Ali recalled his own mother's refrain — "Finish the food. If you do not want it, tell me, and I will not put it in the dish" — echoing the film's message of gratitude and thrift.
"There is something very common between our culture and Chinese culture," he said. "The restaurant is not only about the food. It is about many things. You feel the touch of the chef."
The movie reminded him that across continents and conflicts, the dining table can remain a sanctuary.
"I miss my mom's food," Ali admitted. "So anything she makes, I will eat it."