Free film showing of The Garden

Gallery5 & The Lucent Phoenix Presents The Garden


The Garden is more than the subject of the film, it's about the constant struggle and pitfalls activists run into while organizing in the interest of the people. No matter how righteous the cause, how much they follow procedure, how much press they can amass, how much community support and dialog they can stimulate, in the end, bureaucracy will serve the needs of the capitalist and force those without capital to compromise. As a result we'll lose more than a struggle for (insert cause here), it would likely be the last time a lot of those involved will ever attempt to organize against the rich and powerful. And born from this loss is a new justification for apathy, one which will not be easily shaken. If you take anything from this film I think it should be that nothing short of direct militant action on a national scale will result in a victory for the people.

FREE
Tuesday December 8, 2009
At Gallery5
200 W. Marshall St.
Potluck: 6:00pm
Film: 7:00pm

ABOUT THE FILM
From [ http://thegardenmovie.com ]
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?

The Garden has the pulse of verité with the narrative pull of fiction, telling the story of the country’s largest urban farm, backroom deals, land developers, green politics, money, poverty, power, and racial discord. The film explores and exposes the fault lines in American society and raises crucial and challenging questions about liberty, equality, and justice for the poorest and most vulnerable among us.