THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN
With special guest appearance by John Peterson (Farmer John)

Sat Sep 12, 8 pm
CSPS, 1103 Third St SE, Cedar Rapids
http://www.legionarts.org/
Free admission, Donations invited

For close to a century, a great American epic has been played out in the tiny town of Caledonia, Illinois, about 75 miles west of Chicago. The Real Dirt on Farmer John tells the story of one man, his farm and his family-a story that parallels the history of American farming. But Farmer John is no laconic, Grant Wood-type with a scowl and a pitchfork. Equal parts performance artist, writer and farmer, John Peterson has been known to switch out of his overalls into leopard latex or a purple-feathered boa.

Farmer John Peterson’s inspirational story of revolutionizing his family farm and redeeming his own life won accolades and awards at film festivals around the world. Film critic Roger Ebert gave it 3.5 out of 4 stars and called it “a loving, moving, inspiring, quirky documentary.” Director Taggart Siegel shot farmer John over 25 years of their evolving friendship using multiple media (from 8 mm home movies to modern video), allowing him to capture Farmer John’s alternately humorous, heartbreaking and spirited life with raw drama and intimacy.

With the death of his father during the late ’60s, a teen-aged John takes over the traditional family farm, slowly turning it into an experiment of art and agriculture, a haven for hippies, radicals and artists. The Real Dirt on Farmer John charts the end of this idealistic era as the farm debt crisis of the ’80s brings about the tragic collapse of the farm. As the intricate weave of rural America unravels, vicious local rumors turn John into a scapegoat, condemning him as a Satan-worshipping drug-dealer. Threatened with murder, his home burned to the ground, John forsakes his farm and wanders through Mexico, where he is transformed by the soulfulness and pageantry of an ancient land. Mysteriously, his quest leads him back to his hostile homeland.

Noticing the ongoing multinational takeover of American farming and betting instead on the future of organic produce, Peterson turns his enterprise into an organic operation. Defying all odds, he gradually transforms his land into a revolutionary farming community, a cultural mecca, where people work and flourish providing fresh vegetables and herbs to thousands of people every week. The Peterson family farm has become Angelic Organics, one of the largest Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms in the United States, a beacon of today’s booming organic farming movement. Mark Achbar, director, The Corporation, said, “The film evolves into a deeply moving metaphor for the struggles of an entire generation. His triumphant story is essential for all of us city folk who have found ourselves despairing for the Earth and what has seemed like our inevitable alienation from it.”

More info about the farm and film here: http://www.angelicorganics.com/