Earth to Mouth

Early morning light falls on a farmer's field in southern Ontario's farm country. The mist rises off the field, a dog barks, and shadows wrap around the ceramic statue of a Buddha on Lau King-Fai's dresser. It's a new season in the life of the Wing Fong Farm near the small town of Newcastle, 80 acres planted with Chinese vegetables for Asian markets and restaurants. First time documentary director Yung Chang has made an exquisitely filmed meditation that blends Chinese cultural and religious traditions, Lau's memories of surviving the Japanese occupation and the cultural revolution, and the beauty of the landscape with the rigours of day-to-day work, the Mexican migrants who work on the land, and the changing economic realities in the production of food in today's Ontario heartlands.