Dryland film showing in LaCrosse

Dryland is an intimate portrait of rural America in transition, through the eyes of a young man pursuing his dream and a town fighting to survive.

The 62-minute film will screen in LaCrosse on Thursday, March 26, at 7 p.m. at the Gathering Place, 107 South Main Street.

The free screening is hosted by the Whitman County Library and made possible with funding from Humanities Washington.

The directors, Sue Arbuthnot and Richard Wilhelm, will be part of a post-screening panel discussion.

The discussion is about “Cultivating Rural Resilience,” moderated by Randy Suess, Washington Association of Wheat Growers Board Member.

Arbuthnot and Wilhelm have received an Oregon Arts Commission Media Arts Fellowship and two Best Feature Documentary awards for Dryland.

Joining the directors on the panel are the two lead cast members, Josh Knodel and Matt Miller, as well as cast member, historian, author, farmer, and agricultural businessman Alex McGregor from The McGregor Company.

The panel’s participants will engage in a conversation about the challenges facing family farms and rural communities—and the need for resilience and optimism, while exploring the future of agriculture.

McGregor was instrumental in renovating the LaCrosse Market, leading to the reinvigoration of this small, historic community.

Dryland’s mission is to spark fresh conversation about the need to preserve family farms and reinvigorate local towns, while bridging gaps in understanding between urban and rural Americans, keen to participate in a truly sustainable future for agriculture.

A recent panel discussion, “Finding a Common Language: Farming in Rural and Urban Communities,” included Professor Gigi Berardi, with Western Washington University’s Department of Environmental Studies, and Debbie Vander Veen, Whatcom County Farm Bureau President.

Told over 10 years and filmed in Adams County, Dryland allows rare access into the desires and obstacles experienced by those farmers who grow the nation’s food.

Those farmers are only one percent of all Americans.