dirt the movie essay

“Dirt! The Movie” takes you inside the wonders of the soil. It tells the story of Earth’s most valuable and underappreciated source of fertility — from its miraculous beginning to its crippling degradation. The opening scenes of the film dive into the wonderment of the soil. Made from the same elements as the stars, plants and animals, and us, “dirt is very much alive.” Though, in modern industrial pursuits and clamor for both profit and natural resources, our human connection to and respect for soil has been disrupted. “Drought, climate change, even war are all directly related to the way we are treating dirt.”

“Dirt! the Movie” — narrated by Jaime Lee Curtis — brings to life the environmental, economic, social and political impact that the soil has. It shares the stories of experts from all over the world who study and are able to harness the beauty and power of a respectful and mutually beneficial relationship with soil.

“Dirt! the Movie” is simply a movie about dirt. The real change lies in our notion of what dirt is. The movie teaches us: “When humans arrived 2 million years ago, everything changed for dirt. And from that moment on, the fate of dirt and humans has been intimately linked.” But more than the film and the lessons that it teaches, “Dirt! the Movie” is a call to action.

dirt the movie essay

Technical data & performance rights

Directed by: Bill Benenson, Gene Rosow

Production: Bill Benenson, Gene Rosow, Common Ground Media, Eleonore Dailly

Music: Jorge Corante

Actors: Sebastiao Salgado, Vandana Shiva, Jamie Lee Curtis, Wangari Maathai, Lélia Wanick Salgado, Bill Logan, Fritjof Capra, John Todd, Gary Vaynerchuk, Janine Benyus, Miguel Altieri, Jeremy Narby, Paul Stamets, Andy Lipkis, Bob Cannard, Kevin Rowell, Marisha Farnsworth, Jeannette Armstrong, David Orr, Sebastião Salgado, Wes Jackson

Length: 86 min

Languages (Sound): English

Languages (Subtitles): English

Country: United States

Filming locations: France, Brazil, India, Argentina, United States

Availability

You can also watch it for a fee at:

More informations

  • Official Website

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dirt the movie essay

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Dirt! the Movie

DIRT! The Movie–narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis–brings to life the environmental, economic, social and political impact that the soil has. It shares the stories of experts from all over the world who study and are able to harness the beauty and power of a respectful and mutually beneficial relationship with soil.

But more than the film and the lessons that it teaches, DIRT! The Movie is a call to action. “When humans arrived 2 million years ago, everything changed for dirt. And from that moment on, the fate of dirt and humans has been intimately linked.”

How can you affect that relationship for the better?

dirt the movie essay

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dirt the movie essay

“Most of the world considers this a really viable building material.  A third of the world still lives in earthen structures.”

Kevin Rowell

The Natural Builders

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  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews

Dirt! The Movie

Dirt! The Movie (2009)

The only remedy for disconnecting people from the natural world is connecting them to it again. The only remedy for disconnecting people from the natural world is connecting them to it again. The only remedy for disconnecting people from the natural world is connecting them to it again.

  • Bill Benenson
  • Eleonore Dailly
  • Jamie Lee Curtis
  • Vandana Shiva
  • 6 User reviews
  • 1 nomination

Dirt! The Movie

  • Self - Narrator
  • Self - Author, Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth

Vandana Shiva

  • Self - Physicist, Farmer & Environmental Activist
  • Self - Theoretical Physicist & Author
  • Self - Biologist & Eco-designer

Gary Vaynerchuk

  • Self - Host, Wine Library TV

Wangari Maathai

  • Self - Nobel Laureate & Founder of Green Belt Movement
  • Self - Founder, The Biomimicry Institute
  • Self - Entomologist, UC Berkeley
  • Self - Anthropologist & Author

Paul Stamets

  • Self - Mycologist
  • Self - Founder & President, TreePeople
  • Self - Farmer
  • Self - Natural Builder
  • Self - Speaker, Okanagan Indian Land
  • (as Jeanette Armstrong)
  • Self - Professor of Environmental Studies, Oberlin College

Sebastião Salgado

  • Self - Photographer & Co-Founder of Instituto Terra
  • (as Sebastiao Salgado)
  • All cast & crew
  • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

Founder - The Wine Library : With the amount of species that live in a teaspoon of dirt, I think it's very obvious dirt might be more alive than we are.

User reviews 6

  • Nov 10, 2013
  • 2009 (United States)
  • United States
  • Independent Lens site
  • Official Facebook
  • Common Ground Media
  • See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

  • Runtime 1 hour 26 minutes

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Home / Essay Samples / Environment / Deforestation / The Issue Of Deforestation And Soil Erosion In The Film “Dirt! The Movie”

The Issue Of Deforestation And Soil Erosion In The Film “Dirt! The Movie”

  • Category: Environment , Science
  • Topic: Deforestation , Earth Science

Pages: 1 (472 words)

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