The Land Beneath Our Feet

This compelling documentary looks at the tangled history of land use in the West African nation of Liberia while also serving up the fascinating backstory of the country itself, which was founded in the 19th century as a colony for freed and free-born black Americans, and also became a magnet for African migrants and freed Afro-Caribbean slaves. Filmmakers Sarita Siegel and Gregg Mitman begin the examination of land rights complexities with a look at the early blurring of what comprised “use” (for farming, family, etc.) and what constituted “ownership.” With American colonists more oriented toward the latter, boundaries began to be drawn and were routinely disputed (long-lasting, violent feuds between families could last for years). Confusion reigned, and was made worse by a loss of historical records in the country. The Land Beneath Our Feet tells the story of what happened when a Liberian scholar learned about a 1926 expedition in which Harvard researchers and a filmmaker traveled through the country—an undertaking underwritten by rubber manufacturer Firestone. Among other things, the film illustrates how Firestone had extracted rights to a quarter of Liberia's land (including land already owned), destroying traditional livelihoods and turning the nation into a plantation economy. Unfortunately, the situation persists in contemporary Liberia, where the government continues to sell land concessions to multinational corporations regardless of who has a claim on the property or however many people live on it. The film ends with an uneasy sense that a revolt, brewing especially among the young, is all but inevitable. Recommended. Aud: C, P. (T. Keogh)