Once upon a time, at the intersection of 41st Street and Alameda Avenue in the heart of South Central Los Angeles, a lush 14-acre community garden rose from the ashes of the 1992 LA riots. With uncharacteristic charity, the city donated the land in the largely Latino neighborhood in the hopes that this vast field crammed with garbage, blown tires and syringes would be replaced with an abundance of ripe tomatoes, fresh lettuce, and sweet papayas. The South Central Farm, as it was called, was a resounding success, enabling the farmers to rely on home-grown produce instead of food stamps. It also created a place of beauty where before there had only been signs of abject poverty, violence, and dependence.

The garden was a source of pride and sustenance for more than a decade, but in December 2003, bulldozers were poised to level the urban oasis to make room for…warehouses. Clearly, this fairytale was not destined for a happy ending.

Scott Hamilton Kennedy (OT: OUR TOWN) captures this extraordinary story from the moment the farmers receive notices of eviction, through their two-and-a-half year battle in the courts, to the final verdict and shocking aftermath. The film tracks the serpentine trial, backroom deals and political scandals, as well as the unexpected emergence of a political voice for the immigrant farmers who refuse to remain silent.

THE GARDEN passionately explores a seismic fault line in American society. It also makes us question our own standards of social justice when our system doesn’t serve the poorest and most vulnerable among us.

–Sky Sitney