The Garden & Familia 068 (short)
add Concordia screenings to iCal
Concordia screenings RSS feed
Concordia University (Montreal)
Monday February 9, 2009
Screening begins 19h30
Venue: Room H-110, 1455 de maisonneuve
This screening is co-sponsored by Concordia's Planners Network and director Scott Hamilton Kennedy will give a virtual speaker's introduction to the evening. FAMILIA 068 (Toni Edo & Rubén Margallo / Spain-Nicaragua / 2007 / 27min) will precede THE GARDEN.
The Garden
An award-winning doc that chronicles the struggle of the South Central Farmers in Los Angeles.
Scott Hamilton Kennedy / USA / 2008 / 80 min
The fourteen-acre community garden at 41st and Alameda in South Central Los Angeles is the largest of its kind in the United States. Started as a form of healing after the devastating L.A. riots in 1992, the South Central Farmers have since created a miracle in one of the country’s most blighted neighborhoods. Growing their own food. Feeding their families. Creating a community.
But now, bulldozers are poised to level their 14-acre oasis.
The Garden follows the plight of the farmers, from the tilled soil of this urban farm to the polished marble of City Hall. Mostly immigrants from Latin America, from countries where they feared for their lives if they were to speak out, we watch them organize, fight back, and demand answers:
Why was the land sold to a wealthy developer for millions less than fair-market value? Why was the transaction done in a closed-door session of the LA City Council? Why has it never been made public?
And the powers-that-be have the same response: “The garden is wonderful, but there is nothing more we can do.”
If everyone told you nothing more could be done, would you give up?
* * *
The Garden has the pulse of verité with the narrative pull of fiction, telling the story of the country’s largest urban farm, backroom deals, land developers, green politics, money, poverty, power, and racial discord. The film explores and exposes the fault lines in American society and raises crucial and challenging questions about liberty, equality, and justice for the poorest and most vulnerable among us.
Presentation for Cinema Politica by Director Scott Hamilton Kennedy, to be viewed AFTER watching THE GARDEN:
Presentation by Scott Hamilton Kennedy, director of The Garden from Ezra Winton on Vimeo.
Trailer
Credits
SCOTT HAMILTON KENNEDY
producer / director
JULIE BERGMAN SENDER
co-executive producer
STUART SENDER
co-executive producer
VIVIANNE NACIF
co-producer
Awards & Festivals
2008 Winner, Silverdocs Documentary Festival, Grand Jury Award
2008 Winner, Silverdocs Documentary Festival, Audience Choice Award
2009 Nominated, International Documentary Association, Pare Lorentz Award
2009 Nominated, Academy Award, Best Documentary
Film site & Reviews
(For venue information and directions, see the local page.)
