Oscilloscope Laboratories will release the DVD of “The Garden” on August 18, 2009.
Oscar-nominated for Best Documentary, “The Garden” had a limited theatrical release in the spring of 2008, when it was hailed by critics as an astute and powerful political film.
Filmmaker Scott Hamilton Kennedy (award-winning director of “OT: Our Town”) captures in a series of explosive and wrenching events, the ways greedy developers, inept politicians, and self-serving “community” leaders can run roughshod over the lives of working-class families fighting to save the largest urban farm in America, a 14-acre oasis in South Central Los Angeles that was created in the wake of the 1992 riots.
“The Garden” raises crucial and challenging questions about liberty, equality, and justice for the poorest and most vulnerable among us. As the battle lines are drawn, the farmers’ cause became an international sensation that drew the attention of notable activists and politicians, including Daryl Hannah, Dennis Kucinich, Joan Baez, Danny Glover, and Willie Nelson.
While particular in details and characters, “The Garden” also illustrates broader issues of the prevailing class and labor conflicts in the U.S. and how hardball politics is played in other places, unveiling in the format of a suspenseful human drama.
DVD Bonus Features:
Director’s commentary with urban farmer and activist Tezozomoc, and producers Vivianne Nacif and Dominique Derrenger.
Back to the Garden: extended scenes, protests and historical perspectives.
