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The Garden

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The Garden (2009)

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Reviews Counted:19

Fresh:15

Rotten:4

Average Rating:7.2/10

Genre: Education/General Interest

US Box Office: $0

Synopsis: The fourteen-acre community garden at 41st and Alameda in South Central Los Angeles is the largest of its kind in the United States. Started as a form of healing after the devastating L.A. riots in... The fourteen-acre community garden at 41st and Alameda in South Central Los Angeles is the largest of its kind in the United States. Started as a form of healing after the devastating L.A. riots in 1992, the South Central Farmers have since created a miracle in one of the country’s most blighted neighborhoods. Growing their own food. Feeding their families. Creating a community.

But now, bulldozers are poised to level their 14-acre oasis.

The Garden follows the plight of the farmers, from the tilled soil of this urban farm to the polished marble of City Hall. Mostly immigrants from Latin America, from countries where they feared for their lives if they were to speak out, we watch them organize, fight back, and demand answers:

Why was the land sold to a wealthy developer for millions less than fair-market value? Why was the transaction done in a closed-door session of the LA City Council? Why has it never been made public?

And the powers-that-be have the same response: “The garden is wonderful, but there is nothing more we can do.”

If everyone told you nothing more could be done, would you give up?--© Official Site [More]

Starring: Danny Glover, Daryl Hannah

Starring: Danny Glover, Daryl Hannah

Director: Scott Hamilton Kennedy

Director: Scott Hamilton Kennedy
Screenwriter: Scott Hamilton Kennedy
Studio: Oscilloscope Pictures

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Reviews for The Garden

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1 - 19 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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The Garden moves beyond the feel good facet of any apparent ending to show how stark, stupid reality can rip said victory away. It won't make sense - none of these 'us vs. them' situations ever do - but it does create compelling cinema.

Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
08/22/09
Bill Gibron
Bill Gibron
PopMatters

Likely to grab your heart and incite your passions.

Full Review Source: Oregonian | comment Comment
06/12/09
Shawn Levy
Shawn Levy
Oregonian

[Director Kennedy] lets his subjects tell their tales in their own words. And that's what really makes the film interesting.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
05/28/09
Jeff Vice
Jeff Vice
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Justice and Corruption and Profit are abstractions, and film is so ill suited to deal with abstractions.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
05/21/09
Mark Feeney
Mark Feeney
Boston Globe

A good documentary leaves the viewer wanting more. A problematic one leaves the viewer needing more.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
05/15/09
Philip Kennicott
Philip Kennicott
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

A compelling, inspirational, provocative and thoroughly engrossing documentary.

Full Review Source: NYC Movie Guru | comment Comment
05/10/09
Avi Offer
Avi Offer
NYC Movie Guru

[Director] Hamilton captures the heart-wrenching devastation done in the name of profit, as citizens mourn. Incredibly effecting.

Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
05/08/09
Joe Neumaier
Joe Neumaier
New York Daily News

The Garden is an especially fatuous documentary, nominated for an Oscar this year, about a community garden in South Central LA where Latino farmers have been allowed to grow food on somebody else's land.

Full Review Source: New York Post | comment Comment
05/08/09
Kyle Smith
Kyle Smith
New York Post

A compelling documentary about an urban garden collective and their fight for justice in a nation where poor people are expected to keep quiet and not speak truth to power.

Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice | comment Comment
05/08/09
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat
Spirituality and Practice

This intricate and compelling documentary paints a saddening portrait of American politics.

Full Review Source: New York Times | comment Comment
05/08/09
Jeannette Catsoulis
Jeannette Catsoulis
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Scott Hamilton Kennedy's plucky, powerful storytelling makes this a worthwhile experience.

Full Review Source: Associated Press | comment Comment
05/07/09
Christy Lemire
Christy Lemire
Associated Press

The Garden does a fine job of promoting the power of grassroots advocacy; in almost all other respects, however, this is nonfiction filmmaking thats nearly as dull as dirt.

Full Review Source: Time Out New York | comment Comment
05/06/09
David Fear
David Fear
Time Out New York

A political documentary that is as lovingly developed as the garden cared for by poor immigrants.

Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
05/06/09
Harvey S. Karten
Harvey S. Karten
Compuserve

A heartbreaking documentary which landed a well-deserved Oscar-nomination for its touching portrayal of Spanish-speaking salt-of-the-earth who find it hard to fathom that the legal system could possibly side with a crook out to flatten the fruit of their

Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | comment Comment
05/06/09
Kam Williams
Kam Williams
NewsBlaze

A documentary about fighting city hall, the empty promises of politicians, backroom deals, small victories over the Man and the cost paid by a handful of farmers who endured all of the above. Imagine if John Steinbeck rewrote the script for

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
05/01/09
Peter Hartlaub
Peter Hartlaub
San Francisco Chronicle

An infuriatingly clear-eyed documentary...suspenseful and moving, a film that keeps you guessing (and hoping) right up until the conclusion.

Full Review Source: Hollywood & Fine | comment Comment
04/24/09
Marshall Fine
Marshall Fine
Hollywood & Fine

Presents a classic story of the little guy taking on The Man with both thrilling and frustrating results.

Full Review Source: Metromix.com | comment Comment
04/23/09
Geoff Berkshire
Geoff Berkshire
Metromix.com

From that David and Goliath setup, filmed in a straightforward style on a shoestring budget, emerge fascinating character studies that underscore both the best and worst of human nature.

Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
04/23/09
Ernest Hardy
Ernest Hardy
L.A. Weekly

A beautiful portrait of a unique downtown LA community of poor Mexican-Americans who've turned urban blight into a marvelous garden and fight a developer determined to shut them down. A moving, inspiring documentary.

Full Review Source: About.com | comment Comment
04/03/09
Jennifer Merin
Jennifer Merin
About.com
 
 
1 - 19 (sorted by date; Australian critics are listed first)
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Latest News for The Garden

May 06, 2009: It's Latinos vs. landlord in Academy Award-nominated documentary. Opens in new window
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April 19, 2009: Trailer & Poster review Opens in new window
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