EARTH DAY BROADCASTEARTH DAY BROADCAST “SOUTH CENTRAL FARM: OASIS IN A CONCRETE DESERT,”

PRESS RELEASE:
EARTH DAY BROADCAST “SOUTH CENTRAL FARM: OASIS IN A CONCRETE DESERT,”
documentary short, airing in “Natural Heroes”
PBS series in Los Angeles on April 22
WHEN: April 22, 2008, 9:30 – 10 PM
WHERE: KLCS channel 58 (check local listing)
in “Natural Heroes” PBS series
KLCS, channel 58, a PBS station that reaches greater Los Angeles and
other markets will be airing “South Central Farm: Oasis in a Concrete
Desert”, a documentary short on Earth Day, April 22, 9:30 PM
This doc tells the true story of the high profile controversy involving
poor farmers and their supporters, celebrity tree sitters, the developer
and the city over the largest urban farm in the U.S. It includes a rare
interview with the developer and covers the farmers efforts to stay
connected to the land after eviction and bulldozing.
The film includes farm leaders Tezozomoc and Rufina Juarez and
celebrity tree sitters Daryl Hannah, Joan Baez, Julia Butterfly Hill, and John Quigley, as well as other supporters such as
Martin Sheen and musicians Tom Morello and Willie Nelson who brought international attention to the issue. Others
interviewees include human rights activist Don White, radio host Lila Garrett, author Marion Nestle (Politics of Food) and
Mike Feinstein, former mayor of Santa Monica and international Green Party leader.
The film is directed by Sheila A. Laffey, who also produced and co-directed THE LAST STAND series on the Ballona
Wetlands hosted by Ed Asner with Joni Mitchell music which won 20 awards. She co-produced the farm doc with Geoffrey
Pepos, Sundance alum, who also edited the film. Assistant director is Jeff Forster.
South Central Farm is airing in “Natural Heroes,” a PBS series. It premiered at AFI
Fest at the Arclight and also screened at the Palisades Film Festival.
The film includes footage shot by Daryl Hannah of the farm before the bulldozing and Oscar winning cinematographer
Haskell Wexler filmed the evictions and arrest.
It includes powerful footage of the bulldozing of the 14 acres where 350 families had worked the land for 14 years. It ends
with determined farmers selling food they now grow elsewhere and celebrating their heritage next to the empty land.
TRAILERS FOR THE FILM ARE POSTED AT
http://www.envirofilms.com
http://www.naturalheroes.org
CONTACT: Sheila A. Laffey, Director and Co-Producer
ECHO MOUNTAIN PRODUCTIONS,
1301 17th St.
Santa Monica 90404
310-453-4272
310-633-3595 (cell)
website: www.envirofilm.com
link to programming info at KLCS: http://www.klcs.org/schedules/searchprograms1.html?keywordPBS=natural+heroes