North of Louisville, in La Grange, Kentucky, something like Hollywood is happening. A film set is arranged outside of an old farmhouse. Two pickup trucks, which together play one role, have been spray painted with the name of a fictitious farm supply company. People stand around in silence. The microphone listens to only four actors – and the rustling leaves that help create this autumn scene. A large monitor plays what the camera sees, over and over again, until the assistant director says the final “cut.” All of this against the backdrop of a farm in the Bluegrass region of Kentucky, with straw bales and cows on the rolling hills in the distance.
This scene – a rare one in rural Kentucky – is the set of “Land of Tomorrow”. The film is about Kentucky farmers “and their ability to remain independent and prosperous,” co-producer Kurt Pitzer said. “Land of Tomorrow” is the story of a family who owns an independent farm supply company. The film is set in the present, with the real pressures of industrial agribusiness weighing upon the rural community. Times are hard, and the family is struggling to make house payments. Their financial problems worsen when the husband of the family grows ill, and the son is accepted into college. Betty, the mother and wife of the family, is offered a chance to save her family, though at the cost of her land and values.
Written and directed by Kimberly Levin, “Land of Tomorrow” illustrates the often complicated, polarized issues that surround small family farms in the shadow of industrial agriculture. Unlike many contemporary films on the subject, “Land of Tomorrow” is no documentary. It will present no clear viewpoint.
“I’m interested in the gray areas,” Levin said. The narrative film, rather, will focus in on this family’s story, illustrating the nuances of the questions they face. “We’re living in a time when debate has become polemic…when we’ve forgotten how to really talk to one another when we have differences of opinion.” Most simply, this is a Halloween and harvest story. With its autumnal narrative, Levin hopes the film will draw a broad audience from a range of perspectives, economic backgrounds, and generations. It is her hope that a diverse audience will connect with this family’s experience and better understand the complex issues that Kentucky farmers face. “I hope audiences will walk out of theaters having made a deep connection to Kentucky farmers, asking some of the same questions farmers ask,” Levin said.
Levin was inspired to write and direct this film by her interest in food production – the growing of plants and animals that happens on farms. Kentucky has a rich farm history and was a natural setting for this film, as it is also Levin’s home state. “You can feel Kentucky when you see it,” Pitzer said.
“Land of Tomorrow” is a homecoming film for Levin, who got her start at Actors Theatre of Louisville. That was sixteen years ago, when Levin and co-producer Sarah Spearing first met as interns. This partnership is chance for both to give back to the theater community that helped make them, by creating a film in their Kentucky home place. Spearing and Levin were conscious in their effort to utilize the resources that they had in Kentucky. “Showing that films can be made in Kentucky is definitely a goal of ours,” said Spearing.
Spearing and Levin hired a number of locals they knew through Actors to help form the crew for the film. They also hired eight actors, found using local casting agencies, in small, but pivotal roles. What departments she couldn’t fill in Kentucky, Spearing brought in people she had worked with on previous films. It was not difficult convincing friends in the film industry to work in Kentucky, since “Kentucky in the fall is beautiful,” Spearing said. The crew is even international in scope. Pitzer helped bring in an entirely Spanish film crew.
The film is also the result of efforts outside of the theater community. A number of local investors have made an important impact on the funding of the project. “We have not sought out institutional film investment because we wanted to tell this story the way we wanted,” Pitzer explained. With a greater number of smaller investors, the film was able to remain independent and original.
Many local individuals and businesses have helped with the production. Farm to Fork Catering provided food for three meals a day during filming. Local farmers in Oldham and Henry counties have lent their land for filming, often for free. Being the smallest film she’s worked on, Spearing explained that its rare that individuals would help with a film without expecting any compensation. Many people have volunteered their time for this film, something hard to find in the film industry.
With a small budget and big goals, the crew has pushed the limits of filmmaking. “It’s rained a third of the days we’ve worked,” assistant director Cyndi Martin said, “and twenty-two days for filming a movie is ambitious.” But the crew has made just that happen. Now that the filming has finished, the film has entered post-production, which will continue for four months. Once finished, “Land of Tomorrow” will be submitted at next year’s major film festivals. Its success there will determine the breadth of its screening. The director hopes to have a local screening late next fall.
–Caroline Stephens
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