Join us for an evening of incredible film and panel discussion about black farmers, food sovereignty, equity, and reclaiming land and agricultural heritage.
In celebration of the Summer Solstice and Juneteenth, we'll gather and mingle, sip drink offerings, engage in a thoughtful and deep discussion, watch inspiring films, learn, and be motivated to take action! This is an event where we can access connections and do our part to counter the destruction and heal the planet.
In celebration of the longest day of the year, we can expect cooler temperatures out here by the ocean.
Bundle UP! Dress for the weather at Ocean Beach! Bring a Blanket!
This is a rustic, outdoor experience. We situate ourselves amongst the garden beds. Bring a camper chair if you have one!
Ticket sales for this event provide an honorarium to our filmmakers, supporting their countless hours of love and effort in what they do.
Featured Films:
FARMING WHILE BLACK
Reclaiming Land and Agricultural Heritage
Written & Directed by Mark Decena, Documentary, 75min.
BLACK TO THE LAND
An Earthseed Story
Produced & Directed by McCalman Co., Short Documentary15min.
Schedule of Events:
7:30pm Gather
8:00pm Panel Discussion
9pm Film Screenings
Panelists:
Marc Decena, Filmmaker
Chris Renfro, Winemaker-Activist
Andrea Baker, Facilitator-Strategist
Moderated by George McCalman
Sip Offerings:
Wine tastings of the Hybrid Rosé from Filoli Gardens by Wines of North American Press X Chris Renfro & The 280Project.
Magic Hibiscus-Ginger Love Potion, conjured and served by Manny McCall
Tickets are $10 thru Eventbrite!
Please RSVP here!
More About the Panelists:
Mark Decena:
Mark Decena is a writer, director, and producer of award-winning feature films, television programming, web and brand films. He is a three time Sundance alumni whose work spans from narrative features to documentaries and shorts. Mark’s first feature, Dopamine, won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize in 2003 at Sundance, and since then Decena has built a body of documentary work that spans themes of social justice, sustainable design, and the environment. His previous work includes the Redford Center film, Watershed, executive produced and narrated by Robert Redford; the Gates funded Stand Up Planet, using stand up comedy to look at serious global development issues; and Not Without Us, following grassroots activists to the UN climate talks in Paris. Decena’s latest film, Farming While Black, premiered at the 2023 Mill Valley Film Festival as part of the Active Cinema Program. In addition, Mark is the founder of Kontent Films, a boutique production company based in San Francisco, housing a Kollective of award winning filmmakers, producers and creatives.
Chris Renfro:
In 2019, Christopher Renfro and Jannea Tischirch founded The Two Eighty Project to increase equity and diversity within the wine industry — and access to the spaces occupied by it. They began their work at Alemany Farms, a public park in San Francisco, originally dedicated to giving inner-city individuals the space to practice urban community gardening.
The Two Eighty Project is dedicated to building a sustainable food and wine community that nourishes every member of the local economy and ecosystem.
Andrea Baker:
Andrea is the CEO/Executive Director of En2Action, en2action.org, whose mission is to engage, empower, and inspire action to promote equitable growth, build resilient communities, and achieve transformative social good.
Andrea has significant experience in engaging community stakeholders, facilitating planning discussions and developing strategies for building vibrant commercial corridors in emerging neighborhoods. She previously worked as a Project Manager for Mayor Ed Lee’s Office of Economic & Workforce Development (OEWD), as well as for the former San Francisco Redevelopment Agency.
Andrea was previously awarded the National Coalition for 100 Black Women's Entrepreneurship Award, co-founded 3S Consulting Firm and currently serves on the board of the Shipyard Trust for the Arts (STAR) and Bayview Merchants Association.
George McCalman:
George McCalman is an artist, creative director and Co-Principal of McCalman.Co. His background in the editorial world is a foundation of his storytelling, and his fine art practice has reframed his perspective on the importance of design. A culture columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, McCalman’s first book Illustrated Black History: Honoring the Iconic and the Unseen won the 2023 NAACP Award for Outstanding Literary Work as well as profound accolades by The New Yorker’s Hilton Als, NPR, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Fast Company and many others.
More About the Films:
FARMING WHILE BLACK, Reclaiming Land & Agricultural Heritage
Documentary Film Written & Directed by Mark Decena, 75min. Executive Production
Kontent Films
Leah Penniman, co-founder of Soul Fire Farm, reflects on the plight of Black farmers in the United States. From the height of Black-owned farms at 14% in 1910 to less than 2% today. Leah and her Soul Fire Farm cohorts help propel a rising generation finding strength in the deep historical knowledge of African agrarianism - and its potential to save the planet.
Farming While Black is a feature-length documentary film which examines the historical plight of Black farmers in the United States and the rising generation reclaiming their rightful ownership to land and reconnecting with their ancestral roots.
As the co-founder of Soul Fire Farm in upstate New York, Leah Penniman finds strength in the deep historical knowledge of African agrarianism – agricultural practices that can heal people and the planet. Influenced and inspired by Karen Washington, a pioneer in urban community gardens in New York City, and fellow farmer and organizer Blain Snipstal, Leah galvanizes around farming as the basis of revolutionary justice.
In 1910, Black farmers owned 14 percent of all American farmland. Over the intervening decades, that number fell below two percent, the result of racism, discrimination, and dispossession. The film chronicles Penniman and two other Black farmers’ efforts to reclaim their agricultural heritage. Collectively, their work has a major impact, as each is a leader in sustainable agriculture and food justice movements.
BLACK TO THE LAND, An Earthseed Story
Short Documentary Produced and Directed by McCalman Co., 15min
Celebrates the work of Earthseed Farm + Permaculture Center
Established in March, 2021, Earthseed Farm is a 14-acre solar-powered organic farm and orchard located on the ancestral lands of the Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo Peoples in Sonoma County, California.
With the permission and blessings of Graton Rancheria Tribe, our farm is operated and rooted in AfroIndigenous permaculture principles, and built on the long legacy of earth wisdom traditions of people of African descent. Permaculture is a relationship-based ecological design system embedded in indigenous wisdom that elevates ecosystem health while meeting human needs.
We run a Wholesale program, a U-Pick from July to November (open to the public), and Educational Programs prioritizing people of African descent and other communities of color, so that we may support our communities to live in right relationship with our Earth, while healing generations of historic harms.
We look forward to seeing you there!