Roots So Deep (you can see the devil down there)

Episodes One and Two: Wednesday, October 26, 6 pm Cinema + 
Episodes Three and Four: Thursday, October 27, 6 pm  Cinema +
Speed Cinema, $12 / $8 Speed members

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“This is, hands-down, the best agriculture filmmaking I’ve ever seen.  The characters are all so likable and captivating, the graphics are stunning, and I learned a ton about ecology… but none of that would matter without Peter Byck’s soul and empathy as storyteller.”  Bill Weir, CNN

Roots So Deep (you can see the devil down there) is a 4-part documentary series all about inventive farmers and maverick scientists building a path to solving climate change with hooves, hearts, and soil. 

Can a novel way to graze cattle, that mimics the way bison once roamed the land, help get farmers out of debt, restore our depleted soils, rebuild wildlife habitats, and draw down huge amounts of carbon? Cattle have been seen as eco-villains for a long time. What if they can help save us from catastrophic climate change and get people from all political stripes to come together? “I am always looking for common ground,” says director Peter Byck, “and what I’ve realized is the common ground is the actual ground.”

Roots So Deep is guided by Byck, (also a wrangler of scientists) as he builds relationships with farmers on both sides of the fence–the folks practicing a new way to graze, and their neighbors set in their family’s old style of doing things. Byck’s team of outcast scientists have all put their careers on the line to even explore this new kind of grazing–they’ve been taking arrows for decades.

One question looms over the whole series: even if the science shows that the new way to graze is better for the land and the farmers’ pocketbooks, will the old school farmers change, or will they adopt the new methods? Will they evolve into climate heroes?  Stick around for episode 4 for the answer. 2022, U.S., DCP. Program length with discussion: approximately 2 ½ hours. Recommended for all ages.

Cinema +  Each evening’s screenings are followed by a post-screening discussion with director Peter Byck. Louisville-born director Peter Byck is a Professor of Practice in the School of Sustainability and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University. Byck was also the writer, director, and producer of Carbon Nation and Garbage.

This is a UofL Sustainability Week event!