It’s a documentary-like film. In the name of the earthreleased in 2019 in dark rooms, is broadcast this Wednesday evening on France 2. Based on a true story: the feature film tells us the story of Pierre, a farmer like so many others…
The story begins in 1979 in a French countryside like there are so many in our territory. Pierre (played by Guillaume Canet) takes over his father’s farm. But quickly, the debts will point the tip of their nose. This is the beginning of the gear.
The story of an infernal spiral
Influenced by the model of the giant American farms he visited, the young man quickly wanted to expand the farm, driven by a system that encouraged farmers to always produce more and faster.
To the breeding of kids will quickly be added that of chickens, and with them the new bank loans. To his skeptical father, Pierre will reply that he is “an entrepreneur” who “adapts to the market”.
A new building is built, housing 20,000 chicks. Obviously, the automated feeding system has technical problems and Pierre compensates by hand. He is exhausted.
This is where everything goes wrong and the descent into hell begins. The gap is widening between him and his father, who did not experience the same economic context, but also with his wife and two children.
Put a face to a plague
How can a man straight in his boots fall into depression because of his work? The 1h40 film puts a face to a social fact: the malaise in the agricultural world.
For many years, the farms were passed down from generation to generation, but now Pierre refuses to let his son take over and lead “a stupid life” like his.
The sweetness of life in the countryside, its wide open spaces and the notion of tranquility that emanate from the film contrast with the madness that gradually takes hold of a desperate farmer, who is overwhelmed with work and debt.
Pierre’s story is therefore that of many farmers who always have to produce more to get into business, faced with falling wages and rising costs.
This is why, after the broadcast of this film, the evening will continue with a debate, moderated by the journalist Julian Bugier, around the theme “what future for your farmers?” », in the presence of Edouard Bergeon, the director of the film, and several exhibitors.
Faced with an alarming observation and a deep despair that persists year after year, this evening dedicated to the agricultural world will end by offering another look: that offered by the documentary The Biggest little farm (“Everything is possible” in French).
Nominated for the 2020 Oscars in the category of best documentary film, The Biggest little farm tells the story of an American couple, John Chester and his wife Molly, who, after being evicted from their apartment, decide to change their lives for an 80-hectare piece of land north of Los Angeles: “It all started by a promise made to a dog…”
New and old to create a renewal
He is a documentary filmmaker and therefore decided to film the incredible story of this sustainable farm for eight years. We then discover that the adventure was not a long calm river: attack of coyotes, fires, contamination by green algae…
The director brings to life the winding path that leads to harmony between man and nature. But by dint of relentlessness and adaptations, they will finally succeed in recreating a biotope from a “land that was dead” and in realizing Molly’s dream: to have “a children’s book farm”.
And Alan York, an advocate of “biodynamic” agriculture; that is to say based on the diversity of crops and livestock, is not for nothing. “The goal is to achieve the highest level of biodiversity possible,” he said. Now deceased, it was this “expert in traditional agricultural practices” who advised the two young Californians in their efforts.
The couple also explains how they achieved this feat by combining ancestral agriculture and modern techniques. The documentary does not claim to provide a miracle solution for the agriculture of tomorrow, but gives an answer, among others, to current environmental issues.
The evening begins on France 2 with the broadcast of the film In the name of the earth at 9.10 p.m., followed by a debate at 10.50 p.m. in the presence of the director and the broadcast of the documentary The biggest little farm at 11:55 p.m.