“Look & See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry” opens with four-minute filmpoem
Watch it at The Wrap.
A powerful, prophetic poem by Wendell Berry opens the film Look & See (previously titled The Seer, but changed at Berry’s request) by Laura Dunn and Jef Sewell, which is playing at the Sundance Film Festival as part of The New Climate program. Here’s the description on the Sundance Institute website:
Director Laura Dunn returns to the Festival with this fitting follow-up to her acclaimed documentary, The Unforeseen (2007 Sundance Film Festival). Her latest film, Look and See: A Portrait of Wendell Berry, premiered at the SXSW Film Festival, where it received a Special Jury Award for visual design.
This gorgeously realized look at the decline of modern U.S. agrarian culture is highlighted through the writings and reflections of author Wendell Berry, who embedded himself in rural life upon returning home to Kentucky in 1965. Writing from a long wooden desk overlooking the landscape, Berry used that vantage point to eloquently praise the benefits of a life deeply connected to the land. Since then, society has shifted dramatically, with mass development of rural areas and corporate farming practices replacing the roles of small family farms.
In this visually stunning ode to a changing cultural landscape, rare photographs blend with farmers and family members expressing their own stories. Using original wood engravings to frame chapters, Look And See explores the graceful intersection between art, life, and the natural world.
The film is available for pre-order on Blu-ray and DVD.
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Dave Bonta is a poet, editor, and web publisher from the Appalachian mountains of central Pennsylvania.
