![]()
Film Summary
The most important aspect of the current "back to the farm" movement still hasn't been depicted on screen, despite the food and farming documentaries that have come out in the past several years. "Rise Root Revolution" reveals that agriculture, land, and farming are so fundamental to how wealth has been distributed in America, that they lie at the root of decades of racial and economic inequality.
Rise and Root Farm--the namesake of the film--is made up of Lorrie Clevenger, Jane & Michaela Hayes-Hodge, and Karen Washington.
We have shot 85% of the story. We need to shoot a small amount and then edit & finish the film!
The women's message of empowerment through connecting to the land is embedded in a personal story of one Black woman’s struggle to escape the long shadow of poverty. When a family crisis threatens Lorrie Clevenger's ability to keep farming, it's her allies on the farm—Black, white, and queer—who provide the support for her to care for her family while not having to give up her dream of farming. Lorrie is living out the challenges that experts mean when they talk about what it takes for people from marginalized groups to escape entrenched inequality. And her story has parallels to what happened historically to Black farmers, when they were denied loans and forced off their farms as they tried to build these small businesses.
In the 1920s and 1930s Black Americans farmed as frequently as whites. But U.S. Department of Agriculture and other policies began to prevent people of color and women from owning land and getting the operating loans that white farmers were able to. Those in power had realized that farming could lead to land ownership, wealth, and power in the hands of Black people.
This story depicts the quest to recapture some of that power by Black people, women, and other marginalized groups by reclaiming commercial agriculture. (We're talking about more than cultivating urban gardens, the only places Black growers have been depicted in recent films.) By reclaiming such power, the women featured in this film are directly involved in fighting poverty, building a business, increasing food access, and improving health for their own communities, all by being farmers.
![]()
I have been focusing on environmental issues since the early 1990s when I was in high school, trying to reconcile how people can live healthy and joyful lives in balance with the natural resources that they need. These themes permeate my fifteen years of work in documentary film and video, and I earned my M.A. degree, at U. of Montana, in natural resources journalism to further this work.
When Karen Washington described the goals of Rise & Root Farm to me in 2015, I was struck by how she and her co-farmers were confronting many social ills with one undertaking; ills like intergenerational poverty; the health epidemics of obesity, diabetes, and asthma; and the racism many Americans still rely on to fear and categorize people. The Rise & Root farmers are seeking transformational change through a truly intersectional story, revealing how America's reliance on race-based thinking has perpetuated class division, poverty, and suffering. With hate group numbers at an all-time high, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, it is these very divisions, and a system that continues to ensure them, which has lead to the fragmented, fragile society we have today.
Much of America still scorns the hard work of farming, but a movement of marginalized people has recognized its potential for righting decades of wrongs. The opportunity to farm, feel connected to the land, and provide healthy food for other people feels like a truly valuable commodity.
What the film needs & what you get for helping us get there!
By aiming to raise $30,000, with a stretch goal of $40,000, I will be able to shoot some of my important remaining interviews and hire an editor to cut a 20-25 minute segment of the film for further fundraising. With WhyHunger as my fiscal sponsor, all donated funds will be carefully monitored. All expenditures will be solely for the purpose of making the film. Through the generosity of my producing partner NextRound Productions, I was able to shoot on 30 different days during the 2018 growing season, on a high-quality C300 camera. As a result I have a tremendous amount of footage that depicts the struggles and triumphs of the farmers' year. By having 20+ minutes of the film edited, I will have a very substantial sample to show other funders & grant-makers, to raise the money to complete editing, post-production, and marketing and distribution of the film. And if I don't reach my goal, I will hire an editor for fewer weeks, and/or limit the number and geographic location of my interview shoots. (Films can be made in stages, fortunately!)
The "thank you" gifts provide a taste of the farm in some form or another--from the farmers' personal recipes; to herbs grown in the farm's rich "black dirt;" to edible flowers harvested in mid-winter; to meals cooked by chef-farmer Michaela Hayes. Screen printed gifts feature the circular logo of a fist grasping carrots framed by the sun, in green and orange on a black background. Many thanks to graphic artist Annie Maley of GringoStarr for her wonderful design!
The Film's Impact
Some people might ask, "Why give money to a film when I could give money to an organization doing food justice work?" My response is that, while organizations do the work of food justice, they need their messages to be broadcast far and wide, to reach new ears. Hearing an in-depth explanation of racial and economic inequality as it relates to food and farming is an extremely important topic that needs to be unraveled and explained.
And by its nature food justice is different than food charity, which takes some explanation. So this is a film--like the food justice movement overall--that makes connections other films have not. It asks for structural change, so the scourges of hunger, poverty, food-related illness, and disconnection from nature can finally be resolved. Pervasive poverty and hunger seem far removed from decades-old farmland access issues. We have applied band-aids to these gaping societal wounds, and they have grown worse. We need sustained, broad-reaching discussion of these issues so that serious solutions can be implemented.
I am entering my fifth year working on this project. I am very well-versed in issues of the agriculture industry, through monitoring the daily news cycle of food & farming-related articles as well as reading various government reports. Agriculture relates to a massive portion of the country's economy and resource use, directly or indirectly. And why shouldn't it: food is fundamental. Because farming is at the root of so much, its issues have far-reaching effects throughout society and messages of change must be far-reaching, as well.
Risks & Challenges
The greatest risk I see in running this campaign is people questioning whether I have the experience to tell this story. Too which I reply, I am not trying to tell this story by myself. While the farmers trust me with their story (as they explain in the crowdfunding video,) I firmly believe that films are stronger when they have input from a team of story tellers. I want to be able to incorporate the voices of as many of the people knowledgeable of this issue as I need. The more money I raise the better this film can be--it's as simple as that. I can do more interviews with insightful contributors; I can hire a better camerawoman to shoot the interviews; a better editor to help the story emerge on film. I could even hire a co-writer or story consultant.
Also, if people feel the "moment" for farming films is passed, then it will be difficult to reach this high of a financial goal. Which is why I am trying to emphasize the different and extremely important message that this film shares, through the experiences of a group of subjects that have not previously been highlighted in the farming movement.
More Ways You Can Help!
Regardless of whether you donate, please use your voice to share this IndieGoGo campaign and the film's social media pages with your friends! Please follow the film on Facebook and Instagram!
Those pages are:
www.facebook.com/RiseRootRevolution/
Twitter and Instagram: @kaceyw101
The more people who know about the campaign the greater the chance of meeting our goal. I greatly appreciate whatever you can offer to this project! Thank you!
