EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: SCOTT HAMILTON KENNEDY

Fresh vegetables from rotting fruit: A scene from The Garden.

Unearthing truths

By John Esther

A thrilling documentary looking at the state of play in Los Angeles politics, power and people, Scott Kennedy Hamilton's Oscar-nominated documentary hits Los Angeles tomorrow on the opposite side of town from where the recorded events occurred.

Screening at the West Los Angeles' NuArt Theatre, The Garden chronicles the corrupt killing of what was once America's largest community garden -- located in south central Los Angeles. Formed out of the riots a la the failure to convict Rodney King's clubbing cops, the garden was a place where locals could tend and tender their terrain, toiling in the spirit of community.

But then low, low, low and behold and beholden to special interests, backroom deals are being made and it is time to give the poor people one more eviction notice. So the farmers resist, politicians politicize and pander, courts counter and cave, race raises its rancid head and a few Hollywood heavies lend their help.

The follow up to his award-winning documentary, OT Our Town, Kennedy's documentary is engaging and enraging, pointing more than just a few fingers of blame toward those we might not want running our city or state any longer.

JEsther Entertainment: Did you feel your documentary was filling a void the local media failed to fill?
Scott Hamilton Kennedy: Absolutely. People could go on a rant on how the local press didn’t get it right. There are good people working in that medium, but it’s the nature of the medium. You can’t capture the complexities in one minute or three-minute sound bites.

JE: How did the presence of a film crew influence the narrative? Perhaps some politicians appeared when they normally would not have?
SHK: That’s a funny thing what the camera does. I would say that I was around these farmers for so long that they definitely got more comfortable around me. When I filmed at city council, especially during the early days, everybody made his or her statement. Thank God they did. It shows how they talk out of both sides of their mouth. They stand up and say, “This is the most amazing garden. It’s an honor it was created in our city. It’s a symbol of how we can all work together, but we’re really sorry it has to come to an end. It’s not our fault it’s coming to an end. It’s a legal decision.” But if you stick with the story, you find out that “legal argument” is not really telling the whole story.

JE: It is nothing against the NuArt, but why release the film over here in West Los Angeles? You could hardly be further from the heart-less of the matter.
STK: That’s funny. Hopefully we’ll start here and then play in other theaters.

JE: You are from Silver Lake and you are “white.” There are no “white” players in the documentary. How conscious were the farmers, politicians and others of your race?
STR: I didn’t think at the beginning of this film that it was going to be that much about race. I thought it was going to be a film about class; class in terms of money and power. But in post-production what was really presented was how hard it is not to be derailed from doing best by ourselves and the community. I could have done another documentary about race in LA. The Wire was a huge influence in giving me a lot of confidence in terms of letting the grey areas in there.

JE: Outside of the lawyers, pretty much the leaders on both sides were women.
STR: Yep. That’s a good point. I was raised by smart and powerful women. That had an influence. I don’t know. It’s something you pulled out of it. One of the fascinating things about getting this story out is seeing people’s reactions.

JE: What do you think the similarities between building a garden in this environment and making a small documentary on this kind of subject?
STR: There are definitely some metaphors: I hope we have a good harvest with this film; and people find our film nutritious. [Laughs.] You got it.

JE: Lastly, what do you think about these interviews where you talk about your work? Does it serve the work? Should the work speak for itself?
STR: [Laughs.] Jiminy Christmas, putting the microscope on the microscope. I am sitting here in the hopes of getting as many people in seats as I can. As the gardeners jumped through as many hoops as they can to save the garden, I’ll jump through as many hoops to get people to see the film. That said, it can be a bit silly talking about yourself over and over again.