The Greenhorns

Armed with a camcorder, farmer-filmmaker-activist Severine von Tscharner Fleming spent two years crisscrossing America, meeting and mobilizing a network of revolutionary young farmers resettling the land. 'The Greenhorns' is an ode to their grit and entrepreneurial spirit, an exploration of sustainable agriculture, and an enticement to reclaim our national soil. The ninety minute feature is the culmination of well over 200 hours of original footage from all regions of the United States, as well as original animation by young urban farmer and artist Brooke Budner, and rare agricultural archival footage from the Prelinger Archives. Ultimately, The Greenhorns shows us how farmers can move out of the margins recent history has consigned them to, and back to the heart of the American food landscape.

A Day in the Hayfields

Documentary on the process of hay-making, from the cutting of the grass to the stacking of the hay.

Perfect Compost: a Master Class with Peter Proctor

Peter Proctor is New Zealand's father of biodynamic agriculture. Peter has been gardening and making compost for over 65 years. "Biodymanics makes organics work." Compost is the fundamental element in all gardening & farming. This master class takes you through the biodynamic compost making process from gathering and assembling your materials to creating the perfect compost heap. Rudolf Steiner believed biodynamic compoast was the foundation of humanity and the vital link between the cosmos and the earth. In Perfect Compost, Peter Proctor walks you through every step to building perfect compost.

The Way of the Shaman Drum

During the Cultural Revolution in China in the late 20th century, ethnic Manchu people were persecuted and forced to give up such cultural traditions as the shaman dance (tiao tchin, meaning "spirit-jumping" or "god's dance"). However, on Changbai Mountain in Northeast China, a farmer named Guan Yunde decided to start designing and building traditional Manchu shaman drums. At age 70, he is one of a minority of ethnic Manchu people in China's Jilin province, and one of the few people keeping the Manchu shamanic tradition alive.

Seeding Fear

Since Monsanto began selling their patented 'Roundup Ready' genetically modified (GM) seeds they have sued hundreds of farmers for patent infringement. Michael White, a fourth generation farmer and seed cleaner living in the northeast corner of rural Alabama never imagined that he would become the target of the conglomerates aggressive legal tactics. But unlike other farmers in his area Michael refused to give in to Monsanto and in doing so became one of only a handful of farmers to maintain the ability to speak publicly about his case. This is his story.

Land of Madness

Moullet explores the causes and consequences of cases of mental disorders that were especially numerous in the Southern Alps.

A Time To Rise

On April 6, 1980, the Canadian Farmworkers Union came into existence. This film documents the conditions among Chinese and East Indian immigrant workers in British Columbia that provoked the formation of the union, and the response of growers and labor contractors to the threat of unionization. Made over a period of two years, the film is eloquent testimony to the progress of the workers’ movement from the first stirrings of militancy to the energetic canvassing of union members.

If it Won’t Hold Water, it Surely Won’t Hold a Goat

"If it Won’t Hold Water, it Surely Won’t Hold a Goat" is an intimate meditation on the subversive nature of goats and their effect on the people who spend time with them. Centered on the story of the legendary Goat Man - a nomadic figure who spent most of his life walking the roads of Georgia with a wagon pulled by a herd of goats - this experimental documentary weaves together an interview with a goat farmer, footage of the daily rituals Johnson enacted with her own herd, and a poem about the Goat Man’s experimental and spectacular life.

Les influenceurs sont dans le pré

Cadillac Desert: Water and the Transformation of Nature

Documentary on water usage, money, politics, the transformation of nature, and the growth of the American west, shown on PBS as a four-part miniseries.

Modern Life

For ten years, Raymond Depardon has followed the lives of farmer living in the mountain ranges. He allows us to enter their farms with astounding naturalness. This moving film speaks, with great serenity, of our roots and of the future of the people who work on the land. This the last part of Depardon's triptych "Profils paysans" about what it is like to be a farmer today in an isolated highland area in France. "La vie moderne" examines what has become of the persons he has followed for ten years, while featuring younger people who try to farm or raise cattle or poultry, come hell or high water.

The Sanctuary: Survival Stories of the Alps

A dive inside a wild land where nature hides some of her greatest secrets: The Alps. Steep slopes, wind swept cutting edge rocks. An air desperately lacking of oxygen. A biting cold. How do living beings adapt to those extreme conditions?

Meat

Meat is the modern story of the animals we eat, as told by the people who never get to say their piece - from the solitary hunter who believes everyone needs to be educated about their food, to an industrial pig farmer who argues that money isn't his primary driver.

GONE

As development encroaches on a farming community, they struggle with the loss of their heritage and land.

In Search of Balance

An exploration of a new paradigm of health, science, and medicine, based on the interconnections between us and nature.

The Songs of Rice

In Thailand, a hymn to rice need not always be sung. A dance, or spectacular homemade fireworks can say the same thing. As can a film, as is convincingly demonstrated by this lyrical, beautifully filmed homage to this essential staple food.