Dirt! The Movie

Floods, drought, climate change and even war are all directly related to the way people are treating dirt. Made from the same elements as the stars, plants, and human beings, dirt is very much alive. One teaspoon of dirt contains a billion organisms working in balance to sustain a series of complex, thriving communities that impact our daily lives. Dirt! The Movie tells the story of Earth’s most valuable and underappreciated source of fertility — from its miraculous beginning to its crippling degradation. This insightful and timely film tells the story of the glorious and unappreciated material beneath our feet.

Narrated by Jaime Lee Curtis and inspired by William Bryant Logan’s acclaimed book Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth, Dirt! The Movie introduces viewers to dirt’s fascinating history. Four billion years of evolution have created the dirt that recycles our water, gives us food, and provides us with shelter. But people have endangered this vital living resource with destructive methods of agriculture, mining practices, and urban development, with catastrophic results: mass starvation, drought, and global warming.

The film travels around the world to capture the stories of global visionaries who are discovering new ways to repair humans’ relationship with soil, interviewing Dr. Vandana Shiva about her fight to prevent world hunger by preserving biodiversity in India, and documenting the tree planting work of renowned photographer Sebastião Salgado and his wife Lélia in Brazil. From farmers rediscovering sustainable agriculture, and scientists discovering connections with soil, to inmates learning job skills in a prison horticulture program, and children eating from edible schoolyards, Dirt! The Movie brings to life the environmental, economic, social, and political impact of soil, and uncovers the ways we can create new possibilities for all life on Earth.