About Symphony of the Soil

Symphony of the Soil is a multi-film projects by award-winning filmmaker, Deborah Koons Garcia (The Future of Food, 2004). Symphony of the Soil is an artistic and scientific exploration of the miraculous organism which is soil, an often overlooked protagonist of our planetary story. 

The project consists of a feature film, Symphony of the Soil and various short films or, Sonatas of the Soil, such as Soil: In Good Heart, Portrait of a Winemaker, Transition Town Totnes, and Sekem Vision. The project is currently in production with an expected US release in late Spring of 2012.


Please stay informed by following this blog and by joining the soil community. 

Racing towards the finish line

Today at Lily Films, we are lining up one of the final steps in the film-making process, pre-screenings. At this point in the film making process, everyone on the film team has seen the cut so many times, it's hard to distinguish what end is up and what end is down. Additionally, we're so in love with the film as is, it's hard to imagine it changing, even if the length continually ekes over our mentally set length limit.

So, we are calling in back up. Several teams of fellow directors, producers, editors, soil scientists, and aggies will be viewing the film over the next few weeks around the bay area, giving feedback on where to trim and what parts inspire them most.

We're looking forward to this first round of formal feedback. Another leap closer to the finish line!

Final Shoots

In the making of any film there comes a time to, as we say, wrap it. Symphony of the Soil has been in the making for nigh-on 5 years and we are rapidly drawing to a close. The film is close to fully edited, the score is being written as we speak, and last week we went out twice more, to shoot the filler for the interstitial gaps we have left. 

In waiting with shot list

A central piece of that interstitia, the bond of aggregation, is Dr Ignacio Chapela (featured earlier in Soil on Ice.) We traveled with Ignacio to the western edge of the continent to film some of the final shots in Symphony.

Ignacio at the Pacific Edge

Becoming Soil Conscious by Deborah Koons Garcia

This fall I will be completing my new feature length documentary, Symphony of the Soil. Along with this exploration of soil, I am creating several short films, Sonatas of the Soil, each of which goes deeply into one soil-related topic like dry farming grapes, as is depicted in Portrait of a Winemaker: John Williams of Frogs’ Leap. Yes, I have become a soil freak or soil geek or soil lover or all three. How did this happen?


For the rest of Deborah's full length article originally published in: Edible Marin & Wine County,

Little Hands, Lots of Dirt

Today we encouraged kids to do what kids do best: get dirty. In a rousing session at Singing Frog's Farm in Sebastopol- Deborah directed kids to rolick', dig, toss, and generally muck-about in our favorite protagonist: soil.

Photo by Laurent Alfieri

Photo by Laurent Alfieri

Photo by Laurent Alfieri

Photo by Laurent Alfieri

And guess what?
They had an awfully good time.

Who knew kids like SOIL so much? Parents who looked on watched their kids enjoy themselves by touching, smelling, and tasting some good old fashion dirt.

Yale Environmental Film Festival

One of the Sonatas of the Soil, Transition Town Totnes, took best short at the Yale Environmental Film Festival over the weekend. Hurrah for the growing importance of building soil based communities!

SOS in Fresno

Symphony of the Soil had a very successful Work in Progress screening at Cal State Fresno this evening. Over 700 students, farmers, faculty and community members attended. A rousing discussion about soil management techniques and pressing issues in the surrounding San Joaquin Valley ensued. 

Intervale

In Burlington Vermont there is a long standing agricultural develpment projected called the Intervale that stands as a beacon for communities wanting to redevelop their local food system.

Will Rapp has spearheaded the project for nigh on three decade, and he has led the way towards a sustainable local food system for Burlington. Beginning in the 80's, Rapp took 350 acres, which had been essentially a community dump and over time developed a city composting site, farm incubation program, community supported agricultural subscription, and a non-profit. At the outset of the venture, Rapp projected that one day, the space would be able to provide 10% of Burlington's food supply. Now, in 2010, the are very close to meeting that goal.

Will Rapp in interview with Deborah

The Intervale is an incredible example of what happens when someone with a vision sticks with their full cause. When Rapp first started, the community was incredulous about his mission, now they are full fledged believers. Will's project is s staple of the Burlington identity. Produce from the Intervale farms are featured in the local super markets and highlighted on menus of downtown restaurants. Everyone in town knows his name.

The Intervale is just one of the incredible projects that Symphony of the Soil was privileged to film with. As our two day shoot came to a close- Will gave us a list of Burlington restaurants to visit for the evening. As we poured over the menu for our late night supper- local, sustainable, community based Intervale vegetables were prominently featured. 

Stone Barns

Stone Barns is one of those places where we wish the world could exist. It's beautiful, the air and water are clean, the people are healthy, and need we mention- the food is amazing.

The Stone Barns Greenhouse

A Taste Test with their Interns

Sekeem

In the middle of the desert, hours from the center of Cairo- is an Oasis. Lush fields of camomile, calendula, and oranges. Date palms line the roads, expansive lawns run to the edge of the large white buildings.


Sekem which means "vitality from the sun" in ancient egyptian, is a company and campus dedicated to naturally grown products and sustained community development. The company produces skin care products, tea, baby toys, cloths, processed, and non processed food stuffs.

They do all of this biodymically, employing thousands of members of the community around their main site, as well as 8,000 small scale farmers around the country.

Filming children in their half-day job (the other half they are in school) of picking organic camomile.

At their headquarters they have a school, mosque, workshops, and a medical clinic that are all free for their employees and the surrounding community. Everyone who worked for them that we saw, and met, and filmed, was happy, healthy, and educated- a huge contrast to the rest of the country. The food and products that are produced by Sekem is top quality, and most of it is exported to Europe markets.

Every morning employees gather in a circle

What we saw at Sekem was what can happen when a company understands that to take care of the people is to take care of the soil, and visa versa.