Film: Sower, The / Le Semeur (2013)
Film: Very Good
Transfer: n/a Extras: n/a
Label: n/a
Region: n/a
Released: n/a
Genre: Documentary / Hot Docs 2014
Synopsis: Passive and oddly soothing portrait of Patrice Fortier and his passion to cultivate and sell seeds of rare heirloom vegetables and flowers.
Special Features: n/a
Review:
Patrice Fortier isn’t exactly on a mission to save the world’s rarest plants by harvesting seeds from so-called heirloom varieties of vegetables and flowers, but he does acknowledge his work – originally an art project that soon became a consuming business (La societe des plantes) – is keeping alive the purity of certain foods deemed worthless in today’s market, yet were once part of the more varied diets of prior generations.
Based in Quebec’s beautiful St. Lawrence valley – chilly in the winter, sunny and verdant in summer – Fortier is shown gathering test seeds in the fall to grow produce that will yield enough seeds for locals and travelers at nearby market. His hands-on approach may seem painstaking to the impatient – it can take up to 4 years to yield a small bucket which will produce thousands of an exotic squash variety – but there’s a zen quality to both his tender care towards the plants and the doc itself, flowing through seasons and fixating on the tedious and the superficially mundane. Boasting rich colours, striking compositions, and a quirky use of music, Julie Perron’s doc is a small glimpse of how the diversity of naturally occurring produce was once cherished before the advent of large-scale agriculture.
© 2014 Mark R. Hasan
External References:
IMDB — Hot Docs 2014 Listing
Vendor Search Links:
Amazon.ca
Category: Blu-ray / DVD Film Review
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