Occupy the Farm

Great idea for a film ... and for renewed hope about what regular people can accomplish. Not just a local story, but worth attention where ever there is a vacant lot filled with nuthin' but possibilities. Good pacing. Great info. Some really well done photography. Highly recommended. Still thinking about it days after seeing it.

The film follows a group of very dynamic, telegenic urban farmers as they set about realizing their dream of an urban farm - in the face of resistance from a group of lacking-in imagination university bureaucrats who control the under-utilized plot of land. Along the way, we get to learn so much about food, about community, but also about the possibilities of urban agriculture. This film effectively sticks to it's dramatic central story, but spirals out to all the relevant issues very effectively. I find that the general idea of transforming vacant lots into productive mini farms - as implied by all the actions of the farmers profiled in this movie - is a profoundly interesting one that stays with me.

But perhaps the most satisfying reason to see the film is to watch a step by step citizens-in-action effort. Too often the news just depresses me, but this film avoids offering any sort of falsely positive spin, yet still feels like a breath of fresh air and hope. this film does an excellent job of showing the real issues and difficulties, without abandoning us to despair.