A strikingly beautiful and intimately interwoven unveiling of the joys, the struggles, and the lasting legacies of three Black generational farmers. 2025 Sundance U.S. Documentary Grand Jury winner.
With remarkable intimacy, Seeds documents the everyday lives of Black generational farmers—cotton harvesting, chasing cows, dealing with broken machinery and financial precarities. Director Brittany Shyne’s camera relishes simple moments—conversations through car windows, candy from grandma’s purse as it captures moments of warmth, joy and fulfillment—turning them into striking vignettes that honor the families’ connection to the land and each other. But the sobering reality underscores the urgency of their story: Black farmers owned 16 million acres of land in 1910 but today, that number has dwindled to a fraction. The farmers in the community struggle to access funding that white farmers nearby seem to secure with ease. Through these intergenerational stories, we see the cycles of inequity and embedded racism that persist to this present day, and the signs of hope and renewal with younger generations of farmers. Seeds emphasizes how human beings are innately tied to our foundational roots, roots which carry our ancestral memories—somber, bitter, and sweet. [123 min; documentary; English]
This screening will include a recorded introduction by director Brittany Shyne.
“There is no part of Seeds that doesn’t feel like a priceless heirloom, like a window into a critical cultural history that must be maintained or lest be permanently lost.” — Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com
"It’s an incredibly rewarding journey, a film indebted to the past that feels brilliantly alive." — Esther Zuckerman, IndieWire
"Seeds is incredibly assured in the manner in which it approaches its subjects, and how the viewer is rewarded with information about them. This is one of the best of the year." — Santanu Das, Hindustan Times
Any film screened at IU Cinema may contain content that viewers find sensitive or upsetting. Visit our Audience Advisories page to learn more.
