In Her Chosen Field
1989 · 28m · Canada
Directed by Barbara Evans
Genres: documentary
Tones: contemplative
Women farmers across Canada, from Saskatchewan mixed farming to Ontario dairy operations, run their farms while discussing the economic and social challenges facing agriculture today.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
It's a straightforward talking-heads doc about farmers—exactly the kind of earnest, consensus-approved subject that usually puts me to sleep, and I suspect Evans knows this, which is maybe the only interesting thing about it.
A formally restrained observational documentary from the NFB's documentary tradition, letting economic hardship and resilience emerge through careful framing and the measured rhythms of rural labor; the kind of film that trusts its subject and formal rigor equally.
Evans' decision to let the work itself—the daily machinery, the hands, the land—speak alongside the farmers' voices creates an economy of image that does far more with the modest scope than a more explanatory approach ever could.