The Real Dirt on Farmer John

<p>There are probably many films worth seeing in the <strong>SilverDocs Documentary Festival</strong> taking place this week at the <strong>AFI Silver Theatre</strong> in Silver Spring, MD. But let me strongly recommend the one film that I have seen: <a href="http://www.silverdocs.com/2005/films/reald.aspx">The Real Dirt on Farmer John</a>. For what is worth, among other honors it won the <em>Sundance Film Festival Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature</em>. The film is on John Peterson the individual as well as on farming. </p> <p><a href="http://kolya.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/real_dirt_web.jpg"><img width="350" height="493" border="0" src="http://weblog.clagettfarm.org/images/real_dirt_web.jpg" title="Real_dirt_web" alt="Real_dirt_web" /></a> </p> <p>This is from a <em>SilverDocs</em> blurb:</p><blockquote><p><strong>THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN</strong><br />Documentary by Taggart Siegel<br />USA, 2005, 83 minutes<br />Flamboyant, artsy and organic are not words usually used to describe a Midwestern farmer. Farmer John bravely transforms his farm, amidst a failing economy and nosy neighbors, into a bastion of free expression and a revolutionary form of agriculture.<br /><strong> Saturday 6/18 at 3:00 p.m.</strong><br /><a target="_blank" href="http://www.silverdocs.com/2005/films/reald.aspx" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.silverdocs.com/2005<wbr></wbr>/films/reald.aspx</a></p></blockquote><p>I don't want to give the story away, but the CSA concept ends up playing a key role in the film. Clagett Farm's situation and constraints are different, so we cannot make direct comparisons with Farmer John's farm, but there are enough points in common that farm folks who have seen the film smiled in recognition.</p>