Farming While Black

Eighty degrees on Halloween! It’s hard not to think about the environment these days. And that is certainly the case at BIFF which has a long history of presenting high-quality environmental documentaries.

With the impact of the climate crisis starting to be acutely felt in the Berkshires, artistic director Kelley Vickey and program consultant Lillian Lennox have explored the possibility of making the Environmental Film Focus a permanent ongoing feature of BIFF’s year-round programming.

The Environmental Film Focus allows people to engage with environmentally based stories, strategies and actions with the objective of building a connected, resilient community capable of responding to the deepening environmental emergency with creativity and competence.

With that in mind, they focused on Farming While Black, a feature-length documentary film that examines the historical plight of Black farmers in the United States and the rising generation of Black farmers reclaiming their ownership to the land and reconnecting with their ancestral roots.

It will be screened Friday, November 15th at 7PM at the Triplex Cinema.

Tickets are $15, General Admission. Free Admission for REEL Friends of BIFF.

In the film Leah Penniman, co-founder of Soul Fire Farm, reflects on the plight of Black farmers in the United States. Black-owned farms were at their peak in 1910 at 14 percent. That has decreased to less than 2 percent today. Now Penniman and her compatriots are helping propel a rising generation of Black farmers.

Penniman finds strength in the historical knowledge of African agrarianism – agricultural practices that she argues can heal people and the planet. She is influenced and inspired by Karen Washington, a pioneer in urban community gardens in New York City, and fellow farmer and organizer Blain Snipstal. Collectively, their work has a major impact, as each is a leader in sustainable agriculture and food justice movements.

Farming While Black was directed by Mark Decena. Raised by an immigrant single mother, Decena spent his formative years softening hard adobe clay soil with compost. It infused in him a love of making environmentally focused feature films, television shows and short film series.