Film review of 'The Garden': Turf wars flourish in South Central L.A
Produced and directed by Scott Hamilton Kennedy, "The Garden" takes us behind the scenes of one of the more incendiary situations in recent times in L.A. That would be the fierce battle over a 14-acre community garden at East 41st and South Alameda streets known as the South Central Farm, a dispute that turned so bitter and protracted it is still going on, writes L.A. Times film critic Kenneth Turan:
South Central Farm, sometimes called the largest community garden in the U.S., came into existence in 1992 on a parcel of city-owned land as part of a desire to do something positive for the community after the Rodney King verdict-inspired riots. Says Doris Block, one of the prime movers in the garden project: "land, people, food -- it's a pretty simple idea. Happy days."
In fact, what we can see of the group of 372 largely Latino families who work the land indicates that they are as happy as they can be with the chance to grow crops including corn and beans, papayas and bananas. Until the eviction notice comes.
It turns out that Los Angeles had paid developer Ralph Horowitz $5 million for this land in 1986 when the city wanted to build an incinerator on the property before an activist named Juanita Tate organized the community to stop the project.
Suddenly, in 2003, the city sold the land back to Horowitz, who planned to develop it. Though everything was strictly legal, the deal was initially done in secret and, remarkably, given how much real estate values had risen in the last 20 years, for virtually the same $5 million the city had originally paid Horowitz. It was a move supported by Tate and Councilwoman Jan Perry, two individuals who clearly understand the nature of power and influence.
Read all of Turan's review of "The Garden" here.
-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City
Photo: Kati Lopez in the documentary; Credit: Don Normark / Black Valley Films
