Making a Film: From Concept to Completion

Every great film begins with an idea – but the work really begins when you start turning that idea into a film, as Documentary Diploma alumni Javier Ojer discovered. A collaborative project between Javier, classmate Mik Turje, and the Pull Focus mentorship team, “Hands in the Dirt” explores issues around urban farming and agriculture.

“In the beginning there were a lot of points that Mik and I wanted to look at in relation to urban farming, like gentrification and colonialism. So we had to narrow it down. We began by writing down all our ideas, and then tried to figure out what the main issues were. What stood out is the disconnect between this image of urban farming and VertiCrops as solutions for food security, and what was actually happening to agricultural farmland in Richmond,” said Javier.

Mik’s ties to the farming community in Richmond allowed the team a firsthand look at the obstacles that farmers in the area face, including illegal dumping on Agricultural Land Reserves and sky­high land prices. A mere 20­minute drive from Vancouver, which proudly touts itself as a green city and actively encourages urban farming, the reality faced by local farmers in the Lower Mainland provided a stark contrast. Conveying all the issues involved on film however, turned out to be learning process.

“Mik and I both come from an academic background, so the initial cut was 35 or 40 minutes because we felt like wanted to explain everything. After getting a lot of feedback from our instructors, we managed to edit it down to ten minutes or so, while still keeping the relevant content intact.”

It was during the editing process that Javier realized the inherent responsibility of making a documentary film. “It’s very important to honestly represent the issues involved; as a filmmaker you have this power to show stories from a certain bias – it’s almost scary when you realize that this is possible. As a filmmaker you have a responsibility to tell a story as truthfully as you can.”

And after countless hours of filming and editing, Javier and Mik have managed to do just that – tell an untold story about urban farming that honestly represents the issues involved.