Tag Archives: Wendell Berry

Documentary ‘Look & See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry’ at UICA, Nov. 8

Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, Food, Non-Profits, Upcoming Events, , , , ,

By UICA and Access of West Michigan

 

Look & See revolves around the divergent stories of several residents of Henry County, Kentucky who each face difficult choices that will dramatically reshape their relationship with the land and their community.

 

In 1965, Wendell Berry returned home to Henry County, where he bought a small farm house and began a life of farming, writing and teaching. This lifelong relationship with the land and community would come to form the core of his prolific writings. A half-century later, Henry County, like many rural communities across America, has become a place of quiet ideological struggle.

 

In the span of a generation, the agrarian virtues of simplicity, land stewardship, sustainable farming, local economies and rootedness to place have been replaced by a capital-intensive model of industrial agriculture characterized by machine labor, chemical fertilizers, soil erosion and debt — all of which have frayed the fabric of rural communities. Writing from a long wooden desk beneath a forty-paned window, Berry has watched this struggle unfold, becoming one of its most passionate and eloquent voices in defense of agrarian life.

 

Filmed across four seasons in the farming cycle, Look & See blends observational scenes of farming life, interviews with farmers and community members with evocative, carefully framed shots of the surrounding landscape. Thus, in the spirit of Berry’s agrarian philosophy, Henry County itself will emerge as a character in the film — a place and a landscape that is deeply interdependent with the people that inhabit it.

Directed By: Laura Dunn | Jef Sewel
Genre: Documentary
Run Time: 82 min
MPAA Rating: NA
Origin: USA
A film showing and panel in partnership with Plainsong Farm, Local First, and the UICA, this documentary delves into the life of Wendell Berry as well as the interdependence of land and community.

*A short panel discussion will follow the film

  • Nov. 8 at 7 pm at UICA
  • UICA Members: $4
  • Public: $8

Get tickets here.

 

Co-sponsored by Plainsong Farm, Access of West Michigan,  Urban Roots, and Local First”

 

From UICA.org

On the shelf: ‘Hannah Coulter’ by Wendell Berry

Books, Citizen Journalism, Entertainment, Reviews, , , ,

By Jenny Savage-Dura, Grand Rapids Main Library

 

A few weeks ago, I was listening to the radio while driving to work and became so captivated by a review of author Wendell Berry’s novel, Hannah Coulter, I actually couldn’t help but arrive to work a little late, stuck in the parking lot, hanging on every beautiful word the radio guest had to say about this powerful novel.

 

Let me say, this radio program certainly did not disappoint.

 

In this novel, author Wendell Berry explores the fictional small farming town of Port William, where many of his books take place, and where many of his characters’ lives intertwine and reappear. With sweeping narratives and character-driven dialogue, the story paints vivid pictures of the community and their rich, yet simple lives.

 

In Hannah Coulter, our twice-widowed heroine looks back on her life story, now in her 70s, reminiscent of where her now-unrecognizable Port William has gone, so far-removed from the way things used to be.

 

Hannah Coulter most clearly communicates to its readers a feeling of ambivalence between two changing worlds: the charming old farming community of Port William and the fast-paced outside world, into which many younger members of Port William are venturing. Hannah’s voice is slow and wise, and Wendell Berry’s writing packs a profound message into a short novel.

 

I highly recommend reading this beautifully written novel and any of Berry’s other short novels about the characters in Port William. There is no real sequence or series to his books, so you can simply pick up and enjoy wherever you choose.