Screened as part of NZIFF 2004
Go Further 2003
Filmmaker Ron Mann accompanies actor Woody Harrelson’s Simple Organic Living tour, a solar-powered bus and bicycle caravan, as they spread the gospel of holistic living down the Pacific coast from Seattle to Los Angeles. Teamed up to meet the 21st century, they include an attorney, a web designer, a raw food chef, a yoga instructor and, for contrast and comic relief, Mann’s wisecracking production assistant, junk-food addict Steve. Outflanked and outnumbered by the wholesome, Steve is constantly traumatised by what he’s hearing: milk contains blood and pus? Who knew? Woody uses his star power to broadcast the message that individual consumer choices can make a difference. They visit like-minded operations: organic farmers, solar power generators, a worm farmer, an instruction camp for activists; and speak to a few unsympathetic bystanders.
“While it didn’t convince me to give up corn dogs, Ron Mann’s celebration… is a highly entertaining form of ecological agitprop – radical but accessible.” — Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader