Farm Life
This week, we’re spotlighting a range of documentaries and narrative films set on farms large and small. While some farms are backdrops for family-driven dramas, others become arenas of local resistance against environmental destruction, industrialization, patriarchy, and more.
Gunda
An intimate look at the life of a sow and her companions.
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- Norway, United States • 2021
- Director Viktor Kossakovsky
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Vudu, Kanopy, Hulu, Apple TV
Back Home
(Revenir)
After twelve years abroad, Thomas returns to his family farm in southeastern France and finds past tensions resurfacing.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- France • 2020
- Director Jessica Palud
- Cast Niels Schneider, Adèle Exarchopoulos, Roman Coustère Hachez, Patrick d'Assumçao, Hélène Vincent, Franck Falise
- Genre Drama
- Available on Amazon Video, VUDU Free, Plex, Tubi TV, IndieFlix
Honeyland
Hatidze Muratova, one of the last "bee hunters" in Europe, raises bees based in a sustainable and minimally invasive manner.
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- Macedonia • 2019
- Director Tamara Kotevska
- Cast Hatidzhe Muratova, Nazife Muratova, Hussein Sam, Ljutvie Sam
- Genre Documentary
- Available on DIRECTV, Microsoft Store, HBO Max Amazon Channel, Google Play Movies, AMC on Demand, Vudu, Kanopy, YouTube, Apple TV, HBO Max, Max
The County
(Héraðið)
A widowed dairy farmer stands up for her contained community in rural Iceland.
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- Iceland • 2019
- Director Grímur Hákonarson
- Cast Arndís Hrönn Egilsdóttir, Sigurður Sigurjónsson, Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson, Þorsteinn Bachmann, Ævar Þór Benediktsson
- Genre Comedy, Drama
- Available on Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Vudu, OVID, VUDU Free, Kanopy, Tubi TV, Apple TV
Hadithi za Kumekucha: Fatuma
A woman and her daughter struggle to find recognition for their contributions to the family farm.
- ✭
- Tanzania • 2018
- Director Jordan Riber
- Cast Ayoub Bombwe, Cathryn Credo, Beatrice Taisamo, Kulthum Maabad, MacDonald Haule
- Genre Drama
- Available on Netflix basic with Ads, Netflix
The Levelling
After learning of her brother's death, Clover returns home to find her family's farm in shambles.
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- United Kingdom • 2017
- Director Hope Dickson Leach
- Cast Ellie Kendrick, David Troughton, Jack Holden, Joe Blakemore, Angela Curran, Joe Attewell
- Genre Drama
- Available on Microsoft Store, Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, Vudu, Kanopy, Plex, Tubi TV, YouTube, Apple TV
Qu'est-ce qu'on attend ?
A French village transforms its practices to implement renewable energy and food sovereignty and radically reduce its carbon emissions.
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- France • 2016
- Director Marie-Monique Robin
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on realeyz
Rams
(Hrútar)
Sheep farming brothers Gummi and Kiddi haven't spoken in 40 years—until a lethal disease threatens their flock.
- ✭ ✭ ✭ ✭
- Iceland, Denmark, Norway • 2015
- Director Grímur Hákonarson
- Cast Sigurður Sigurjónsson, Theodór Júlíusson, Charlotte Bøving, Jón Benónýsson, Gunnar Jónsson, Sveinn Ólafur Gunnarsson
- Genre Drama
- Available on Microsoft Store, Cohen Media Amazon Channel, Kanopy, Tubi TV, Apple TV, MUBI
The Auction
(Le Démantèlement)
A sheep farmer must choose between his livelihood and his family when his daughter is in need of financial support.
- ✭ ✭ ✭
- Canada • 2013
- Director Sébastien Pilote
- Cast Gabriel Arcand, Gilles Renaud, Lucie Laurier, Sophie Desmarais, Dominique Leduc, Pierre-Luc Brillant
- Genre Drama
- Available on Freevee, Film Movement Plus, Amazon Video, Vudu, Kanopy, Plex, Tubi TV, Apple TV
The Moo Man
A British dairy farmer sells raw, unpasteurized organic milk and cultivates an intimate relationship with his small herd of cows.
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- United Kingdom • 2013
- Director Andy Heathcote, Heike Bachelier
- Cast Stephen Hook
- Genre Documentary
- Available on Google Play Movies, Amazon Video, YouTube, Tubi TV
Red Persimmons
(満山紅柿)
A small Japanese village has grown and packaged persimmons for centuries, but their traditional culture faces the threat of disappearance.
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- Japan • 2001
- Director Shinsuke Ogawa, Peng Xiaolian
- Cast
- Genre Documentary
- Available on OVID, Amazon Video
Jean de Florette
When Jean de Florette inherits land in Provence, he decides to take up farming. But his scheming neighbors have other plans…
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- France, Switzerland, Italy • 1986
- Director Claude Berri
- Cast Yves Montand, Gérard Depardieu, Daniel Auteuil, Elisabeth Depardieu, Margarita Lozano, Ernestine Mazurowna
- Genre Drama
- Available on No streaming locations found.