Mamma's Pets

We Make Butter(en)

When Dick and Jane go to visit their cousin Billy and Aunt Ruth at their farm, they learn the process of how butter is made and prepared for stores by making it homemade.

Meeting Place Organic Film(en)

Local, organic, and sustainable are words we associate with food production today, but 40 years ago, when Fran and Tony McQuail started farming in Southwestern Ontario, they were barely spoken. Since 1973, the McQuails have been helping to build the organic farming community and support the next generation of organic farmers. This is a documentary about the McQuails that explores the very real ways their farm has contributed to the long term ecological viability of agriculture in Ontario. It is a call to action for all those who believe there is a better way to take care of our planet and feed the world.

Diptych(fr)

A short film by Walerian Borowczyk in two parts. The first 'panel' follows the morning routine of Leon Boyer who, despite being almost 100 years old, still farms the land, drives a vintage car, and plays with his two dogs. The second panel shows shots of beautiful flowers and a cat, to a recording of Tino Rossi singing 'La romance de Nadir / Je crois encore entendre' from Bizet's opera 'Les pêcheurs de perles'.

Gunda(en)

A glimpse into the raw and simple power of nature through encounters with farm animals: the eponymous Gunda, a mother pig; two cows, and a one-legged chicken.

We're Here to Stay(en)

Farm families in Lestock, Saskatchewan, have pooled their resources so that rising operating costs will not drive them off their land. By pooling their land, their equipment, their livestock, and farming as a cooperative, they are able to live as they choose, to maintain their standard of living, and even to have some spare time left over to enjoy. An engaging look at a novel approach to big-scale farming.

The Agro Rebel: Permaculture in the Salzburg Alps(en)

Sepp Holzer explains some of the innovative, labour-saving agricultural techniques he applies at his farm in the Eastern Alps of Salzburg, Austria.

The Sadies Stop and Start(en)

The Sadies Stop and Start captures a moment in time. That time was uncertain and dark. Still reeling from losing Dallas, we found out that Mike needed to have emergency wrist surgery. We needed to play these songs, not knowing if we would ever have the opportunity again. With one day's notice, documentary filmmaker Ron Mann and a stellar crew pulled together to help us capture these songs. Friends and family gathered to help out and show their support. James McKenty engineered in his mobile recording trailer, In Record Time Studio. The resulting film looked and sounded better than we could have hoped. We are thankful to share that Mike's surgery was successful and we are back out on the road and coming to a city near you.

Prime Farmland(en)

This documentary film follows farmers and activists fighting together to stop the Indiana Enterprise Center, a mega-sized industrial park planned west of South Bend, Indiana

Hinterkaifeck - Die wahre Geschichte hinter Tannöd(de)

Still today, people say that during the stormy night from March 31st to April 1st, 1922, the devil had come to Hinterkaifeck. On the farmstead near Schrobenhausen, all 6 inhabitants – 4 Adults and two children – are struck down bestially. The police did not manage to seek out the murderer(s). As the case is still unsolved as of today, the story still lives on in the minds of the people. Motion pictures, theatre plays, and the bestselling novel “Tannöd”, behind all of them stands Hinterkaifeck. Aspiring police investigators and a self-declared “Internet – special commission ‘Hinterkaifeck’” have now once again taken up the trail of the case. This exciting search for traces is followed by the film, and its findings are recreated in elaborate play scenes. Thereby, a picture of an era thought to be bygone and an idea of what really happened back then comes into existence. More precise than any fiction, the docudrama manages to get closer to the truth.

A Life on the Farm(en)

A strange story from Somerset, England about a filmmaking farmer and the inspiring legacy of his long-lost home movies.

Mike on the Farm(en)

89-year-old Italian immigrant Mike Nardone operates a farm all by himself in Alberta, Canada.

Cow(en)

A close-up portrait of the daily lives of a pair of cows: told by way of some narrative-free, intimate POV photography, with plenty of close shot images, we follow the daily routine of these animals as they live what can only be described as mundane, boring lives - all with an ultimate purpose within the human food chain.

Sepp Holzer's Secrets of Eden(en)

Filmmaker Claudia Hefner showcases the Kramerterhof, an Alpine estate which Sepp Holzer has transformed from an ordinary farm into a paragon of permaculture. Spectacular aerial photography helps viewers to appreciate the magnificence of the landscape and the efficiency of the property.

Behavior Of Domestic-Pigs In A Semi-Natural Pig-Park(en)

This Swiss/Scottish co-production presents an academic look at the reproductive and ontogenetic behaviour of domestic, large, white pigs in a large, semi-natural enclosure.

The Biggest Little Farm(en)

The successes and failures of a couple determined to live in harmony with nature on a farm outside of Los Angeles are lovingly chronicled by filmmaking farmer John Chester, in this inspiring documentary.

L'acte de la beauté(fr)

Family Life(de)

Biggi lives with her two daughters, four dogs and her exboyfriend Alfred on a dilapidated farm in a small village in Saxony-Anhalt. Biggi and Alfred are out of work and they live very modestly. The 14 and 17 year-old daughters Saskia and Denise should really go to school, but there are always reasons for them to stay at home. This gives rise to tension with Alfred. We accompany them during their conflict-ridden everyday lives and learn something about their dreams, fears and hopes. And how difficult it is to break out of a circle.

Come On Children(en)

Five boys and five girls ages 13 to 19 live on a farm for ten weeks, to be filmed, and to see what might emerge for each of them personally.

John Deere Farm Days(en)

John Deere tractors, combines, planters, graders, and hay balers. See the important role bees play in the growing process. Visit an apple orchard and learn about different kinds of apples. See John Deere tractors working hard at Santa Anita Race Track and the Los Angeles Equestrian Center - where kids learn to ride and jump horses. Fast-paced, entertaining, and fun for kids of all ages.

Passing Clouds(en)

In rural Scotland, a flock of sheep is sheared to survive the summer while a shepherd finds protection during the winter thanks to the wool. Are the clouds above them simply witnessing the process or do they actually take part in it? Shot on Super 8 with its characteristic unexpected light leaks, Passing Clouds explores a different possibility to the birth of clouds. Throughout the film, the sheep, the shepherd and his dogs guide us towards understanding the mystery of this mythical cycle based on what happens once a fleece is no longer attached to a sheep's body.