Central Victorian farm designers Lisa Heenan and Darren Doherty had been travelling the world with their children teaching regenerative farming techniques for more than a decade when they arrived at Virginia’s Polyface Farm in 2011 with the spark of an idea.
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Since then the couple and their eldest daughter Isaebella Doherty have been back and forth from the United States, painstakingly documenting the methods employed at what they consider the most innovative farm in the world.
Four years later and the result of their labour, the feature length documentary Polyfaces, is entering its final stages of production.
Ms Doherty, who served as the film’s producer and cinematographer, said the process had been an incredible learning experience.
“We just bought some cameras and went over there with an idea in mind but no idea how it was actually going to work out,” she said.
“The majority of the project’s been spearheaded by my mother Lisa, who spent countless hours fundraising and throwing herself into the deep end with production and learning about production.”
The film documents the innovative farming techniques employed at Polyface Farm by the Salatin family, headed by patriarch Joel.
“Joel has calculated if every farmer in the United States used the methods he employs we’d reduce all of the carbon emissions to pre-industrial age (levels) within ten years,” Ms Doherty said.
“We feature one of his neighbours who starts to convert to Polyface methods to go back and see how his farm was regenerating rapidly over the four year period and how much it had changed.”
With post production due to finish within weeks, Ms Doherty is now focused on producing a theatrical trailer featuring local singers as the family prepare to take the film on the festival circuit.
“We’re just really excited to have it out in the world,” she said.
“Our intention is to continue to make films like this that really inspire and encourage people to look beyond the systems we’ve currently got.”
To view an extended trailer visit www.polyfaces.com