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Director: Josh & Rebecca Tickell
Cast: Laura Dern, Jason Momoa, Donald Glover, Woody Harrelson, Rosario Dawson, Cory Booker
Awards: Tribecca Film Fest - Human/Nature Award
Join us Wednesday, October 29th at 7:00 p.m. for an uplifting documentary detailing the situation from the front-line of America’s dysfunctional food system!
Admission is FREE and open to the public – Tickets are required
This event will include a pre-show presentation by Ohio University Associate Professor Dr. David Rosenthal of the Environmental and Plant Biology Department
About the film
Common Ground is the highly anticipated sequel to the juggernaut success documentary Kiss the Ground, which touched over 1 billion people globally and inspired the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to put $20 billion toward soil health. By fusing journalistic exposé with deeply personal stories from those on the front lines of the food movement, Common Ground unveils a dark web of money, power, and politics behind our broken food system. The film reveals how unjust practices forged our current farm system in which farmers of all colors are literally dying to feed us. The film profiles a hopeful and uplifting movement of white, black, and indigenous farmers who are using alternative “regenerative” models of agriculture that could balance the climate, save our health, and stabilize America’s economy – before it’s too late.
About the speaker
David Rosenthal is an Associate Professor in the Environmental and Plant Biology department where he studies plant responses to environmental stressors. He is particularly interested in climate change impacts on plant and crop productivity. Dr. Rosenthal has studied soybean, cassava, sunflowers and sweet potato, as well as wild plant and tree responses to climate change. His crop studies began on large-scale, industrial, monoculture farms, but his interests have broadened to include addressing challenges associated with small scale, diversified, sustainable agriculture.
Dr. Rosenthal coordinates the Ohio Student Farm, where sales of produce in the Athens community support farm activities. With little operational support from the University, the farm depends on a volunteer farm manager, student workers, and interns to grow and sell produce to local businesses, at auctions, and to Ohio University culinary services. Excess produce is donated to or purchased by campus, local non-profits and community food banks. Follow the link below for more info about Dr. Rosenthal and his work:
https://www.ohio.edu/cas/rosentha
Check out the rest of our line-up of films in the Sustainability Film Series
This series was made possible thanks to the following sponsors:
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101 MIN
Juan Andres Ravell, director, is an audio producer and documentary director from Caracas Venezuela. In 2008, Juan co-founded El Chigüire Bipolar, a wildly popular political satire website that used humor to bypass government censorship in Venezuela. In 2018, Juan branched into investigative journalism collaborating in projects with reporters from Armando.Info, IDL Reporteros and Columbia Journalism School. Juan recently directed the investigative documentary feature “A Dangerous Assignment” for FRONTLINE PBS.
Patricia Marcano Meza is a Venezuelan editor and investigative reporter who has covered the corruption of the Maduro government for Armando.info. 
Kelly Hatas is the Executive Director of Hocking Athens Perry Community Action (HAPCAP), an antipoverty nonprofit organization headquartered in Athens County. She earned her BA in International Relations from Shawnee State University in 2007 and went on to serve as an AmeriCorps*VISTA for three years there. That experience led to her interest in the nonprofit sector, and she earned her Master of Public Administration (MPA) from the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Service at Ohio University in 2012. She has spent the rest of her professional career with HAPCAP, one of 1,000 Community Action Agencies that were established across the country as part of then President Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. Kelly grew up in Southwest Ohio, and will talk about how her perspective shifted after moving to, and choosing to stay in Appalachia. She lives in Athens County with her wife and two dogs.
From legendary director Wim Wenders, this latest film is a perfect slice of peace in these tumultuous times. Japanese actor Koji Yokusho (who has won the Best Actor award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival) stars in the lead role alongside Tokio Emoto and Arisa Nakano. Perfect Days has been nominated for a Best International Feature Film Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards, and will surely be an unforgettable addition to Wender’s illustrious cinematic career.
