Dirt! The Movie (2009)

Directors:

Bill Benenson
Gene Rosow
(more)

Release Date:

7 August 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

A story with heart and soil.

Plot:

A look at man's relationship with Dirt. Dirt and humans couldn't be closer. We started our journey together as stardust...

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Bill Logan	...	Urban Arborist / Author - 'Dirt'
Paul Stamets	...	Mycologist
Gary Vaynerchuk	...	Founder - The Wine Library / Host of Wine Library.tv
Vandana Shiva	...	Physicist / Environmental Activist
Miguel Altieri	...	Professor Ph.D. Entomology - University of Florida / UC Berkeley
Wangari Maathai	...	Nobel Laureate / Founder - Green Belt Movement
Carlo Petrini	...	Founder - the Slow Food Movement
Pierre Rabhi	...	Author / Farmer / Environmentalist
Andy Lipkis	...	Founder - Tree People / Citizen Forester
Fritjof Capra	...	Theoretical Physicist / Director - Center for Ecoliteracy, Berkeley
Jeanette Armstrong	...	Land Speaker - Okanagan Author & Artist
Marisha Farnsworth	...	Natural Builder
Kevin Rowell	...	Natural Builder
James Suntum	...	The Parochial Vicar - Santuario de Chimayo
Casimiro Roca	...	The Associate Pastor - Santuario de Chimayo (as Fr. Casimiro Roca)
David Orr	...	Professor of Environmental Studies - Oberlin
Richard Regester	...	Eco-designer
Wes Jackson	...	President - The Land Institute
Janine Benyus	...	Founder - The Biomimicry Institute / Author 'Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature'
Jerry Glover	...	Agroecologist - The Land Institute
Jeremy Narby	...	Anthropologist
Juan Vicent Sanchez	...	Professor Agriculture Studies - UCA
Sebastião Salgado	...	Photographer / Co-Founder - Instituto Terra
Leila Salgado	...	Co-Founder - Instituto Terra
Majora Carter	...	Founder - Sustainable South Bronx
Peter Girguis	...	Assistant Professor of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University
Helen White	...	Herself - MSI Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Organismic & Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University
Lottie Manuel	...	Herself
Hilda Krus	...	Horticultural Therapist - The Greenhouse: Rikers Island
James Jiler	...	Program Director - The Greenhouse: Rikers Island
Edward Pagan	...	Himself
Pabo Rolan	...	Himself
Barbara Damrosch	...	Author / Organic Farmer
Wes Kinney	...	Owner - Kinney Compost
Will Brinton	...	Founder - Woods End Research Laboratory
Alice Waters	...	Founder - Edible Schoolyard
Sharon Jackson	...	Participant - The Green Team
Juan Mighty	...	Participant - The Green Team
John Cannizzo	...	Director - The Green Team
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Narrator
Katrina Hawkins	...	Herself
Cricket Leigh	...	Temp Narrator
Francesca Mazzola	...	Herself

Directed by
Bill Benenson
Gene Rosow
Eleonore Dailly		(co-director)

Produced by
Bill Benenson	....	producer
Laurie Benenson	....	executive producer
Tracy J. Brown	....	associate producer
Eleonore Dailly	....	producer
Christine Deitner	....	associate producer
Tyler Harbour	....	associate producer
Marisa Murgatroyd	....	associate producer
Gene Rosow	....	producer
Dileep Singh Rathore	....	line producer: India
Lisa Yesko	....	post-production producer

Original Music by
Jorge Corante

Cinematography by
David Aubrey
Ben Bloodwell
César Boretti
Steve Elkins
Walter Lorrusso
Marisa Murgatroyd
Tom Pakulski
Antonio Rossi

Film Editing by
Alexandra Komisaruk
Rob Seidenglanz
Jonathan P. Shaw
Brian Singbiel

Production Management
Emmanuel Pappas	....	production supervisor: India
Salman Shaikh	....	production manager: India
Andrew Troy	....	post-production manager

Sound Department
Mark Berger	....	re-recording mixer
Chris Blunk	....	sound
Tom Eichler	....	sound
Jon Greasley	....	mix technician
Michael Kowalski	....	supervising sound editor
Claudio Musajo	....	sound
Saul Rouda	....	sound
Jaimie Siedow	....	dialogue recordist
Federico Soro	....	sound
Susumu Tokunow	....	sound

Animation Department
Ben Ceccarelli	....	animation director: title sequence
Ben Ceccarelli	....	animator
Madevi Dailly	....	animation director
Eric Keyes	....	animator
Andy Lueddeke	....	design/stop animation: opening title sequence
Jeffrey McCarthy	....	key animator: opening credits
Luc Perez	....	animator
Nicolay Vorontsov	....	animator
Selina Wagner	....	animator
Robert Zwietz	....	animator

Editorial Department
Toby J. Brown	....	assistant editor
Morgan Gross	....	first assistant editor
Bradford Hill	....	assistant editor
John Sellars	....	colorist

Music Department
Ludovico Einaudi	....	composer: additional music
Todd MacKenzie	....	music editor
Tom Schnabel	....	music supervisor

Other crew
Leslie Gant	....	production staff
Jennifer Glasgow	....	production staff
Veronica Herrera	....	production accountant
Eve Marson Singbiel	....	production staff (as Eve Marson)
Lisa Yesko	....	post production

Production Companies

• Common Ground Media

Distributors

• Docurama (2010) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Through a Glass Productions  sound equipment provided by

Runtime:

USA:86 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Filming Locations:

Argentina

Company:

Common Ground Media

Quotes:

Founder - The Wine Library:With the amount of species that live in a teaspoon of dirt, I think it's very obvious dirt might be more alive than we are.

Wonderful Documentary

I found Dirt! to be a great work. But I find that I am in the minority, unfortunately. Dirt! is a movie that everyone should watch and think about very, very carefully.It has a lot of pretty important and very pertinent information and perspectives. Which, I admit, are against the general consensus which seems to be of the opinion that the earth is just here for our wanton extraction and harvesation of its resources.

But we aren't. We are just here. And we should respect that. This is the central message I got out of the movie.

Dirt! is actually an enjoyable movie, which is what should be stated first, I suppose. It has cartoons. Cartoon are always fun. I enjoyed the style of the cartooning as well, it was very expressive. It is not as depressing as many environmental movies can get, though, of course, it has its moments.

Dirt! is not a political movie, it is not religious, but it is about some strong opinions and some stark facts and predictions which I think are entirely reasonable if not a little optimistic. (I like to think of myself as a realist: I don't think the glass is half empty, or half full, I think "that glass is twice as big as it needs to be") But even if the movie is, itself, not political or religious or (outrightly) ethical, it will spark some heated debates along all those lines.

All I ask is that when discussing the ramifications expressed in this "Wonderful" (yeah, I'll call it wonderful) movie, you do not regurgitate comebacks that you haven't thought about. Instead, please consider the point of view of the people in this movie. Realize that these are opinions held be intelligent people who have thought long and hard about this stuff and therefore have some very valid things to say. Just as valid as yourself. Discuss it. It's important.