South Central Farm on Film

The Garden, an academy award-nominated film about the South Central Farm in Los Angeles, will screen in select cities in coming weeks.

Thu, Apr 23 2009 at 11:29 PM EST

Back in mid-2006, the South Central Farm made big national news when it was under the threat of bulldozing. At that time the farmers, along with many supportive community activists, fought hard to keep their edible community garden. In the end, however, the bulldozers won, and the South Central Farm slowly fell off the national news radar, although the farmers and community members continue to fight commercial development in the area.

Now the South Central Farm’s getting back in front of national audiences — though this time in the form of a feature film, not nightly news broadcasts. The Garden, a documentary about the South Central Farm, will come to theaters this and next month in Los Angeles, New York, Washington DC, San Francisco, and Berkely.

Nominated for an academy award last year, The Garden follows the story of the South Central Farm, from its beginnings in 1992 to the bulldozing in 2006. According to the film’s description:

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.

Above’s the trailer, and below are the details on the screenings. In addition to finding out more about the farm specifically and L.A. politics generally, you’ll also be inspired to start a garden in the city — if you haven’t already.

April 24 - Los Angeles, Calif., Landmark Nuart
May 1 - San Francisco, Calif., Landmark Theatres
May 1 - Berkeley, Calif., Rialto Cinemas Elmwood
May 8 - New York City, Cinema Village
May 15 - Washington DC, Landmark E-Street