Turf war

Oscar-nominated doc The Garden examines
an epic battle over an urban green space

SELLING THE FARM: The Garden

by MATTHEW HAYS

The Garden is one of those documentaries that is as disturbing as it is revealing. Produced and directed by Scott Hamilton Kennedy, the film shows us a group of idealists dedicated to maintaining an urban green space in the middle of Los Angeles.

Shortly after the Rodney King riots in 1992, some L.A. citizens were moved to try to do something positive after such a gruelling and tumultuous time. They managed to create the South Central Farm, a block of city-owned land where nearby residents could grow their own food. Hundreds of locals, many of them Latino, participated, and many found empowerment in doing such a thing in the middle of L.A., a city rife with the signs of poverty, a place often thought of as unforgiving. As the residents tell us in the film, the South Central Farm is a source of profound pride for them and a means of making their own healthy food.

But, as documentaries like this require, there are villains never too far away, ready to wreak havoc on this apparent bit of utopia. Due to some bizarre cosmic screwing which is never really properly explained (or perhaps it is, but the reasoning is so ludicrous it can’t seem real), the city owes the land to a crackpot developer who wants to bulldoze the garden. Brace yourself: it gets more depressing from there.

Documentaries seem to demand a celebrity appearance these days, and The Garden delivers with Willie Nelson and Daryl Hannah. The latter’s cameo takes on a surreal dimension, as we see Ms. Hannah squatting on the land—in a treehouse!

The squabble over the coveted 14 acres grows steadily more extreme, with city hall, celebrities, developers and urban farmers squaring off. Kennedy also depicts sad chasms that form between the pro-South Central Farm citizens.

Still, as downbeat as it all sounds, there’s something exhilarating about watching a doc like The Garden, nominated for an Oscar this year in the Best Documentary category. And as recent reports indicate, the fight isn’t yet over, with Californians digging their heels in over this precious soil. A sequel will clearly be in order.

THE GARDEN SCREENS AS PART OF
THE CINEMA POLITICA SERIES ON
MONDAY, FEB. 9 AT 7:30 P.M. IN
CONCORDIA’S HALL BUILDING,
1455 DE MAISONNEUVE W., RM H-110