HONORING THE LEGACY OF BLACK FARMERS
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
BEST LONG DOCUMENTARY
African American International Film Festival - Nashville
Oakland International Film Festival
After close to 20 years in concept and 2 years in post-production, the film is completed. Thank you to all the sponsors, donors, and people who believed in the project. This has been a labor of love with a dedicated post-production team who understood the importance of telling the story and making it available to broad audiences.
BOOK A SCREENING
The film is now on a Multi-City Tour
For more information on Rhythms of the Land and to book a screening for your community visit www.rhythmsoftheland.com
Dr. Gail Myers is a cultural anthropologist who earned the Doctorate in Anthropology from Ohio State University, the Masters in Applied Anthropology from Georgia State University, and the Bachelors in English from Florida State University. She is also the Co-founder of Farms To Grow, Inc, and has been advocating for African American farmers for more than 20 years. Dr. Myers began researching African American farmers while at Ohio State University in 1997.
Dr. Myers passion for Black farmers developed as a result of hearing stories of their loss and struggles without recognition for their contributions. Myers is considered an expert in the anthropology of African American farming. In the summer of 2012, Dr. Myers, drove 10,000 miles in four weeks to cover 10 southern states (South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Florida), interviewing over 30 African American sharecroppers, tenant farmers, and 3rd to 5th generation farmers.
Each interview represents generations of cultural traditions, family farming, and a farming philosophy that honors farming land, sustainability, their communities, and unimaginable perseverance despite predatory lending practices and policies levied against them. Hearing their stories will honor these US farmers, sharecroppers, and gardeners and spotlight the connection between biological and cultural diversity connect us to our roots, especially our future farmers, and youth.
The film will spotlight an array of farmers, rice growers, hog ranchers, dairy ranchers, barefoot farmers, sharecroppers, basket-weavers, shrimp farmers, vegetable farmers, and gardeners, each sharing their memorable stories with us for the first time.
Rhythms of the Land Trailer
Rhythms of the Land is a valentine to generations of black farmers in the United States from the enslavement period to the present, whose intense love of the land and dedication to community enabled them to survive against overwhelming odds.
A large portion of African American sharecroppers and tenant farmers migrated to the North after the Wars I and II for factory jobs. These are the stories of the people that remained on or returned to the land and continued the agrarian traditions passed down from their ancestors.
This trailer spotlights a few of the more than 30 interviews weaving a compelling story of love for family, land, God, and community. Rhythms of the Land brings to life a love story seldom told.
