The Real Dirt on Farmer John

Meet Farmer John, a man who will turn every idea you ever had about what it means to be an American farmer, or an American dreamer, on its head. Farmer John might sit on a tractor but he's also an outrageous artist, a maverick environmentalist, a homespun rebel, a pink-boa-wearing eccentric, a playful provocateur - and the incredible human being whose inspirational story of revolutionizing his family farm and redeeming his own life has won accolades and awards at film festivals around the world in THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN.

This lovingly handmade, grassroots epic has garnered fans even in the corridors of power, with former Vice President Al Gore calling it “unbelievably special,” celebrity chef Alice Waters declaring it “a charming, wonderful and important movie” and master documentarian Albert Maysles describing the film as “genuinely beautiful . . . a cause for hope.”

At once funny and stirring, what drives the film's powerful appeal is the way in which it digs up “real dirt” not only about the tragedy of losing our traditional American family farms but about what really makes for an original American life - one lived, on a man's own terms, in balance with the land, through hardships and unexpected triumphs, with creativity and verve.

THE REAL DIRT ON FARMER JOHN is directed by Taggart Siegel, who made the film in a most unusual way - shooting farmer John Peterson over 25-years of their evolving friendship, and using multiple media, from Super8 home movies to modern video -- allowing him to capture his alternately humorous, heartbreaking and spirited life with raw drama and intimacy. Along the way, Siegel charts Farmer John's astonishing journey from farm boy to counter-culture rebel to the son who almost lost the family farm to a beacon of today's booming organic farming movement. The result is a tale that ebbs and flows with the fortunes of the soil and revealingly mirrors the changing American times.

NOTABLE QUOTES about The Real Dirt on Farmer John:

“Unbelievably special…a real and gripping story told with insight and humor.”
-Al Gore, former Vice-President

“A loving, moving, inspiring, quirky documentary.”
- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

"The Real Dirt on Farmer John" examines 50-odd years in the life of its eponymous subject - a most compelling character... Suffused with a soulful optimism as vast as the fruited plains.”
- Scott Foundas, Variety

“One of the Top Ten Films of the Year.”
- Shawn Levy, The Oregonian

“ **** An enjoyable look at an unconventional American.”
- Walter Addiego, San Francisco Chronicle

“Full of curious triumphs and outlandish redemptions.”
- Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune

“A charming, wonderful and important movie.”
-Alice Waters, Chef and Advocate

“Farmer John is a compelling and complex character whose story will open your heart, break it, and then fill it with a redemptive vision.”
- Nina Utne, Utne Reader