Documentary 'The Garden' on DVD -
Oscilloscope Laboratories

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• Movie: Garden

Christine Champ,  Aug 21, 2009

The Garden is a documentary of arguably biblical drama with enough edge-of-your-seat intrigue for a primetime expose or theatrical thriller. Rife with timeless and timely social struggles -- naivety vs. experience, community vs. capital, rich vs. poor, man vs. political "machine" -- it's no wonder it netted not only 2009 film festival accolades, but an Oscar nom for Best Documentary Feature.

Scott Hamilton Kennedy (award-winning director of OT: Our Town) and his documentary crew ventured into the 14-acre oasis at 41st and Almeda in Los Angeles only a few weeks before bulldozers were scheduled to arrive. Created in the wake of the 1992 Rodney King riots to pacify the depressed, low-income neighborhood, the South Central Farm eventually blossomed into the largest urban garden in the United States. Earlier in 1986, via eminent domain, the city seized the land from developer Ralph Horowitz, compensating him $5 million. Municipal plans to build a waste incinerator, however, were halted by community activists led by Juanita Tate, so the land remained a trash-filled lot until the urban garden was proposed.

So why the surprise eviction 12 years later, when the garden had grown into a thriving Eden that fed the community in body and spirit? It's a thorny question that's never truly answered, though hints are dropped and theories proposed. In a back-room deal, councilwoman Jan Perry (in cahoots with Tate) sold the land back to Horowitz for a bargain $5 million -- exactly what the city paid him in 1986. Per the agreement he promised to build a soccer field along with his warehouse. Turns out, Perry and Tate had been in the soccer field (or as one activist dubbed it "poverty pimp") biz for a while, getting millions in government money to produce dirt fields.

It's a tale full of twists and turns, conspiracy and corruption, pointing to the darkest and dirtiest side of politics, where officials publicly boast solidarity with citizens while they privately broker self-serving exchanges that doom their causes. At its apex the desperate battle to save the garden pits the farmers, their lawyer, and an entourage of notable politicians and celebs -- including Dennis Kucinich, Daryl Hannah, and Joan Baez -- against unconcerned or unscrupulous politicians, corrupt community leaders, and, at one point, each other (farmer vs. farmer).

Marches, machete attacks ... Kennedy not only captures the complexity of the story -- presenting events and facts with little interpretation or intervention -- he paces it with enough suspense and drama to make it as entertaining as any fictional blockbuster.

In the end, instead of providing answers, The Garden only digs up more nagging enigmas. What's the best use of limited land? Is there such a thing as justice for all? The local crisis is also an apt microcosm for the world's current economic insecurity and environmental quandaries. The Garden opens our eyes and incites us to look deeper, as every great documentary should.

Special Features:

Extras include the usual feature commentary track with Kennedy, farmer Tezo, and producers, plus a "Back to the Garden" series of extended scenes, historical perspectives, and additional footage of protests and celeb visits that usefully flesh out documentary details and viewpoints while reiterating the farmers' perseverance and passion. Think activists tearfully blasting Perry at city council, a rebuttal of Horowitz's anti-Semitism charges, designs to transform the garden into a true communal space with art museum. Kennedy, farmers, and activists also answer questions and share their views in film festival Q & As and critic David Poland's interview of Kennedy.

The Garden is available now on DVD.