Land in Trust
1949 · 27m · Canada
Directed by Evelyn Cherry, Lawrence Cherry
Genres: documentary
Tones: contemplative
Eroded and wind-blown farmland across Canada illustrates why soil must be understood and conserved, and how fertility can be restored in eastern and western regions.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
A 1949 soil conservation PSA should be a snooze, but there's something almost perverse about how Cherry and Cherry let erosion speak for itself — no breathless narration, just land that's been hollowed out and a quiet argument for restoration that refuses to sentimentalize.
This sits perfectly in the lineage of Canadian documentary formalism and post-war institutional filmmaking, where visual evidence and measured pacing do the moral work; the editing rhythm between degraded and restored farmland is a masterclass in comparative montage.
The decision to intercut treated and untreated soil sequences without editorializing creates a devastating visual argument that a bigger-budget film would've smothered in music and voiceover — the restraint IS the craft here.