Dirt! The Movie (2009)

The only remedy for disconnecting people from the natural world is connecting them to it again.

Directors:

Bill Benenson, Gene Rosow

Stars:

Jamie Lee Curtis, Bill Logan, Vandana Shiva

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Herself - Narrator (voice)
Bill Logan	...	Himself - Author, Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth
Vandana Shiva	...	Herself - Physicist, Farmer & Environmental Activist
Fritjof Capra	...	Himself - Theoretical Physicist & Author
John Todd	...	Himself - Biologist & Eco-designer
Gary Vaynerchuk	...	Himself - Host, Wine Library TV
Wangari Maathai	...	Herself - Nobel Laureate & Founder of Green Belt Movement
Janine Benyus	...	Herself - Founder, The Biomimicry Institute
Miguel Altieri	...	Himself - Entomologist, UC Berkeley
Jeremy Narby	...	Himself - Anthropologist & Author
Paul Stamets	...	Himself - Mycologist
Andy Lipkis	...	Himself - Founder & President, TreePeople
Bob Cannard	...	Himself - Farmer
Kevin Rowell	...	Himself - Natural Builder
Marisha Farnsworth	...	Herself - Natural Builder

Storyline

A look at man's relationship with Dirt. Dirt and humans couldn't be closer. We started our journey together as stardust, swirled by cosmic forces into our galaxy, solar system, and planet. We are made of the same stuff. Four billion years of evolution created dirt as the living source of all life on Earth including humans. Dirt has given us food, shelter, fuel, medicine, ceramics, flowers, cosmetics and color --everything needed for our survival. For most of the last ten thousand years we humans understood our intimate bond with dirt and the rest of nature. We took care of the soils that took care of us. But, over time, we lost that connection. Our species became greedy and careless. We still depend on dirt, but now we abuse and ignore it. We are destroying our last natural resource with our agriculture, our mining, and our paving over the planet for cities. We turned dirt into something "dirty." In doing so, we transform the skin of the earth into a hellish and dangerous landscape ...

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Plot Keywords:

environment | global ecology | deep ecology | ecological footprint | environmental crime | 

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Taglines:

A story with heart and soil.

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Genres:

Documentary

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Independent Lens site Official Facebook

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

2009 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Argentina

Company Credits

Production Co:

Common Ground Media

Technical Specs

Color:

Color Black and White (archive footage)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

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.

User Reviews

Good points, but linked poorly

Dirt! did a good job of touching on important issues facing soil today - monoculture, artificial fertilizer, soil erosion, desertification, slash and burn, etc - as well as some solutions for better soil care and conservation - compost, polyculture. What it did a poor job of was presenting how all the issues are interrelated through physical and biological processes (e.g. nitrogen cycle, life and death). The formation and roles of soil were sadly under-explained. The viewer is left with a scattershot impression of trouble but the big picture is woefully incomplete.

My sense is that the documentarian wanted to emphasize the spiritual and emotional rather than the scientific or even economic aspects. This bias makes it a good film for the uninitiated - those who need to be impressed with the value of the 'skin of the Earth' - but those who keep abreast of ecological disasters-in-the-making would probably prefer a film with a more compelling, cohesive, substantive narrative.

Too bad, because soil is an extremely important resource, and everyone should know its value and the consequences of mismanagement. Dirt! delivers the right message, but if only it would deliver it more persuasively...