A look at man’s relationship with Dirt. Dirt and humans couldn’t be closer. We started our journey together as stardust, swirled by cosmic forces into our galaxy, solar system, and planet. We are made of the same stuff. Four billion years of evolution created dirt as the living source of all life on Earth including humans. Dirt has given us food, shelter, fuel, medicine, ceramics, flowers, cosmetics and color –everything needed for our survival. For most of the last ten thousand years we humans understood our intimate bond with dirt and the rest of nature. We took care of the soils that took care of us. But, over time, we lost that connection. Our species became greedy and careless. We still depend on dirt, but now we abuse and ignore it. We are destroying our last natural resource with our agriculture, our mining, and our paving over the planet for cities. We turned dirt into something “dirty.” In doing so, we transform the skin of the earth into a hellish and dangerous landscape for all life on earth. A millennial shift in consciousness about the environment offers a beacon of hope – and practical solutions. Around the globe, pioneers are coming together to save earth’s last natural resource. Tiny villages rise up to battle giant corporations slaughtering their land. Scientists discover connections with soil that can balance global warming. Generation X brands organic farming as trendy and children begin to eat from edible school yards. Inmates find inner peace and job skills in a prison horticulture program. Medical researchers explore dirt’s capacity to provide solutions to such devastating health crises as AIDS. Major religions are rediscovering the reverence for the natural world that unites them all. Uses animation, vignettes, personal accounts and story telling.

Dirt! The Movie (2009)
  • Rating: (183 votes)
  • Tagline:A story with heart and soil. »
  • Runtime:86 minutes
  • Directors: Bill Benenson, Gene Rosow, Eleonore Dailly
  • Country:USA
  • Actors:
    Urban Arborist / Author - 'Dirt'
    Bill Logan
    Mycologist
    Paul Stamets
    Founder - The Wine Library / Host of Wine Library.tv
    Gary Vaynerchuk
    Physicist / Environmental Activist
    Vandana Shiva
    Professor Ph.D. Entomology - University of Florida / UC Berkeley
    Miguel Altieri
    Nobel Laureate / Founder - Green Belt Movement
    Wangari Maathai
    Founder - the Slow Food Movement
    Carlo Petrini
    Author / Farmer / Environmentalist
    Pierre Rabhi
    Founder - Tree People / Citizen Forester
    Andy Lipkis
    Theoretical Physicist / Director - Center for Ecoliteracy, Berkeley
    Fritjof Capra
  • Genre:Documentary
  • Producers:
    Bill Benenson
    producer  
    Laurie Benenson
    executive producer  
    Tracy J. Brown
    associate producer  
    Eleonore Dailly
    producer  
    Christine Deitner
    associate producer  
    Tyler Harbour
    associate producer  
    Marisa Murgatroyd
    associate producer  
    Gene Rosow
    producer  
    Dileep Singh Rathore
    line producer: India  
    Lisa Yesko
    post-production producer  
  • Plot: A look at man's relationship with Dirt. Dirt and humans couldn't be closer. We started our journey together as stardust, swirled by cosmic forces into our galaxy, solar system, and planet. We are made of the same stuff. Four billion years of evolution created dirt as the living source of all life on Earth including humans. Dirt has given us food, shelter, fuel, medicine, ceramics, flowers, cosmetics and color --everything needed for our survival. For most of the last ten thousand years we humans understood our intimate bond with dirt and the rest of nature. We took care of the soils that took care of us. But, over time, we lost that connection. Our species became greedy and careless. We still depend on dirt, but now we abuse and ignore it. We are destroying our last natural resource with our agriculture, our mining, and our paving over the planet for cities. We turned dirt into something "dirty." In doing so, we transform the skin of the earth into a hellish and dangerous landscape for all life on earth. A millennial shift in consciousness about the environment offers a beacon of hope - and practical solutions. Around the globe, pioneers are coming together to save earth's last natural resource. Tiny villages rise up to battle giant corporations slaughtering their land. Scientists discover connections with soil that can balance global warming. Generation X brands organic farming as trendy and children begin to eat from edible school yards. Inmates find inner peace and job skills in a prison horticulture program. Medical researchers explore dirt's capacity to provide solutions to such devastating health crises as AIDS. Major religions are rediscovering the reverence for the natural world that unites them all. Uses animation, vignettes, personal accounts and story telling. Written by Anonymous
Dirt! The Movie
  • User's comment:Wonderful Documentary by Scaea Coarnia

    I found Dirt! to be a great work. But I find that I am in the minority, unfortunately. Dirt! is a movie that everyone should watch and think about very, very carefully.It has a lot of pretty important and very pertinent information and perspectives. Which, I admit, are against the general consensus which seems to be of the opinion that the earth is just here for our wanton extraction and harvesation of its resources.

    But we aren't. We are just here. And we should respect that. This is the central message I got out of the movie.

    Dirt! is actually an enjoyable movie, which is what should be stated first, I suppose. It has cartoons. Cartoon are always fun. I enjoyed the style of the cartooning as well, it was very expressive. It is not as depressing as many environmental movies can get, though, of course, it has its moments.

    Dirt! is not a political movie, it is not religious, but it is about some strong opinions and some stark facts and predictions which I think are entirely reasonable if not a little optimistic. (I like to think of myself as a realist: I don't think the glass is half empty, or half full, I think "that glass is twice as big as it needs to be") But even if the movie is, itself, not political or religious or (outrightly) ethical, it will spark some heated debates along all those lines.

    All I ask is that when discussing the ramifications expressed in this "Wonderful" (yeah, I'll call it wonderful) movie, you do not regurgitate comebacks that you haven't thought about. Instead, please consider the point of view of the people in this movie. Realize that these are opinions held be intelligent people who have thought long and hard about this stuff and therefore have some very valid things to say. Just as valid as yourself. Discuss it. It's important.


  • Quotes: 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. Founder - Tree People: Two, three years. Founder - Tree People: It's already a redwood.

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