Dirt! : the movie

Featuring live action and animation, this movie examines the history and current state of the living organic matter that we come from and will later return to.

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DVD ; NTSC ; 16:9 WIDESCREEN PRESENTATION ; DOLBY DIGITAL 2.1 STEREO, 5.1 SURROUND AUDIO.

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Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Hardwood Creek Library (Forest Lake)	DVD 577.57 DIR	Searching... Unknown
Searching... R.H. Stafford Library (Woodbury)	DVD 577.57 DIR	Searching... Unknown

The expression "common as dirt" wouldn't exist if there weren't an awful lot of dirt in this world. But is there as much as we think -- or even as much as we need? And what's been happening to it? Dirt is the outer layer of the Earth and the place where nearly all the world's vegetation comes to life, but the 20th Century was a bad time for dirt -- the rise of corporate farming practices have led to reliance of fertilizers with negative long-term effects on the soil, while clear-cutting of rainforests and global warming are making it harder to grow the food the world needs, making workable soil an increasingly scarce commodity. Filmmakers Bill Benenson and Gene Rosow offer a witty but incisive look at dirt, what's in it, how it's used and how we must protect it in the documentary Dirt! The Movie. Adapted in part from the book Dirt! The Ecstatic Skin of Earth by William Bryant Logan, Dirt! The Movie received its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Library Journal Review

This award-winning film is based on William Bryant Logan's 1995 book, Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth. Land-based life depends on deep fertile soil, but humans are degrading this resource much more quickly than it can be renewed. With clips of various experts and 20 international locations, the action can be dizzying. Early scenes show the Natural Builder company making earth homes, then the film moves to mountaintop removal, the origin of the prairie dust bowl, unsustainable corporate farms, clearcut logging that allows much soil to be lost, and a discussion of why 200,000 farmers in India have committed suicide. The program, narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis, does offer hope in the form of a visit to an organic farm, a ride with tree planting teams in New York's South Bronx, an explanation of composting, and a prison program in which inmates tend gardens. A roundup links these diverse stories with the quote, "What we have destroyed, we can heal." Bonus features include extended interviews and web links. Recommended for all adults and teens interested in the environment.-David R. Conn, formerly with Surrey Libs., BC (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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