Into The Weeds: Q&A with Jennifer Baichwal
This weekend members of our community will gather at the Joe Burke Wolfe Island Literary Festival for a small and intimate viewing of Jennifer Baichwal’s new documentary Into The Weeds. Into the Weeds tells the powerful story of Dewayne “Lee” Johnson, a former Bay Area groundskeeper who takes on a multinational agrochemical corporation after a terminal cancer diagnosis.
We sat down with Jennifer for a Q&A in anticipation of the screening on Saturday. Here is what she had to say about the film:
What started you down the path of making this film?
The lawsuits had started when we were at Sundance Film Festival with Anthropocene. Bobby Kennedy came to introduce the film and said he was working on these trials. When I asked who was documenting them, he said— no one. And so we started.
What was the most telling aspect of this very important film to you?
This is a story of corporate malfeasance on a massive scale, agency capture, systemic effects of herbicide use and the limitations of mass torts as a tool of justice. But these elements are only thrown into focus by the people, species and ecosystems that are affected. We have always toggled back and forth between detail and scale to tell a story. It is Lee’s — and the other plaintiffs’-- determination to find justice, that is most inspiring.
What do you hope comes from this film?
Awareness: Glyphosate is the world’s most widely used herbicide— in places people would always imagine. Beaches, forests, highways, rail and hydro lines, parks, golf courses, etc.— in addition to agriculture. Also, to use the film as an impact tool towards changing legislation, as there are a number of regulatory reviews coming up in the coming months internationally— and here in Canada.
As one of the world’s greatest storytellers, all of your renowned films have a certain reverence around the impacts people have on the planet. How do you view storytelling as part of our collective effort in addressing some of society’s most pressing issues?
I would take exception to the greatest storytellers' part of this question! Hardly. The art form of storytelling has the capacity to move people emotionally, intellectually, spiritually and viscerally at the same time.
The arts community has been some of the greatest advocates and supporters of swimmable, drinkable, fishable water for everyone. In your mind, why is that?
See the answer to question 4! Also, activists and artists both live pretty close to the ground. When you start to lose touch with grassroots, you float away into something not as acute and direct. Both artists and activists, by the nature of their work, can’t do that and still have an impact.
This event is in support of Swim Drink Fish’s Kingston’s Community-based Water Monitoring Hub. As a board member of Swim Drink Fish, what do those three words mean to you?
Water is obviously elemental and crucial for life. And clean water is not only a basic human right but a basic right for all of nature. Swim Drink Fish encompasses these ideas profoundly. When I am in the water, I feel alive in a completely different way. We all have a duty to protect our waterways.
As Into The Weeds starts premiering around the country and audiences gather to watch the documentary, is there anything you want spectators to know?
Into The Weeds will have its broadcast premiere as part of the CBC's Passionate Eye on September 16th, 2022. It will be available to stream for free on CBC Gem from September 17th, 2022 onwards. We are working with an incredible group of Canadian environmental NGOs to plan impact events surrounding the broadcast/streaming premiere, including a virtual roundtable that will interrogate the possibility of a future without glyphosate in Canada. This team is also crafting a petition that will target the reviews around glyphosate happening in Canada this fall.
Beyond Canada - the U.S. EPA has been ordered to redo the ecological portion of its review on glyphosate by October. Similarly, the EU will decide whether or not it will renew glyphosate's license by July 2023. We will host screenings in both areas that will target the decision makers involved in these reviews. To stay up to date on our upcoming impact events, follow @intotheweedsdoc on Instagram.
