How to Save the World

New Zealand filmmakers Tom and Barbara Burstyn's documentary offers a crash course in biodynamic farming—as advocated by Peter Proctor, a Kiwi leader in the field—which combines organic agricultural practices, specialized field and compost preparations, plus a mix of spiritual and astrological considerations to help determine the planting and harvesting schedule. The film follows Proctor to rural India, where biodynamics is being pitched as a means of revitalizing a farming industry battered by reckless chemical usage and exploitation by multinational corporations. How to Save the World argues that India is headed for an agricultural and environmental disaster, and that the articulate Proctor is something of a wise savior who could resurrect the dying land (the film's press notes say that many people call him “the new Gandhi”). Conspicuously missing here, however, is any representation from the Indian government, which apparently has no control whatsoever over the environmental ruin the Burstyns insist is taking place. How to Save the World might have been an interesting short documentary, but the subject has been stretched well past the fraying point at 104 minutes, and even those with a passion for agricultural issues are likely to get fidgety as it drags on. Optional. Aud: C, P. (P. Hall)