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Gimme Green cover image

Gimme Green 2007

Highly Recommended

Distributed by Cinema Guild, 115 West 30th Street, Suite 800, New York, NY 10001; 212-685-6242
Produced by Isaac Brown and Eric Flag in conjunction with The Documentary Institute, College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida
Directed by Isaac Brown and Eric Flag
DVD, color, 28 min.



Sr. High - Adult
Environmental Studies

Date Entered: 10/29/2008

Reviewed by Barbara Butler, University of Oregon Institute of Marine Biology

The subtitle says it all “A documentary about America’s obsession with lawns.” The facts regarding lawns are sobering: at 50,000 square miles it is America’s largest irrigated crop; 5,000 acres are converted into lawn each day; it takes 200 gallons of water per person per day to maintain lawns; 75% of water use in America’s southwest is for lawn care; we apply 30,000 tons of pesticides to our lawns each year; and many of these potentially carcinogenic compounds are detectable in our groundwater.

Gimme Green is well-edited, splicing together footage of a suburban “yard of the month” contest, operations at a turf farm and pesticide applications by a lawn-care company. This serious yet humorous look at “America’s obsession” is much like watching a Michael Moore documentary, but without his confrontational style.

Highly recommended for libraries serving junior-high through adult audiences.

Awards:

  • Winner, Academy of Television Arts and Sciences' College Television Award, 2007
  • Winner, Beverly Hills Shorts Festival, Best Documentary Short, 2007
  • Winner, Phoenix Film Festival, Best Documentary Short, 2007
  • Winner, Big Muddy Film Festival, Jurors' Citation, 2007
  • Winner, Oxford International Film Festival, Best Documentary Short, 2007
  • Winner, Houston WorldFest, Silver Remi Award, 2007
  • Winner, DeadCenter Film Festival, Best Documentary Short, 2007
  • Winner, Toofy Film Fest, Golden Toof Award for Best Documentary Short, 2007
  • Winner, Austin Film Festival, Audience Award for Best Documentary Short, 2007
  • Winner, Oxford Film Festival, Best Documentary Short, 2007