Dirt! The Movie is a 2009 American documentary film

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

 directed by filmmakers Gene Rosow and Bill Benenson and narrated by Jamie Lee Curtis

Jamie Lee Curtis

Jamie Lee Curtis is an American actress and author. Although she was initially known as a "scream queen" because of her starring roles in several horror films early in her career, such as Halloween, The Fog, Prom Night and Terror Train, Curtis has since compiled a body of work that spans many...

. It was inspired by the book Dirt: The Ecstatic Skin of the Earth (ISBN 978-0393329476) by William Bryant Logan. The film explores the relationship between humans and soil

Soil

Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...

, including its necessity for human life and impacts by society. Dirt! The Movie was an official nominee for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival  and won several other awards, including the best documentary award at the 2009 Visions/Voices Environmental Film Festival and the "Best film for our future" award at the 2009 Mendocino Film Festival.

Interviews include:

• Vandana Shiva
  Vandana Shiva
  Vandana Shiva , is a philosopher, environmental activist, and eco feminist. Shiva, currently based in Delhi, has authored more than 20 books and over 500 papers in leading scientific and technical journals. She was trained as a physicist and received her Ph.D...
  
  ,
• Fritjof Capra
  Fritjof Capra
  Fritjof Capra is an Austrian-born American physicist. He is a founding director of the Center for Ecoliteracy in Berkeley, California, and is on the faculty of Schumacher College....
  
  ,
• John Todd (biologist)
  John Todd (biologist)
  John Todd is a biologist working in what is sometimes considered the general field of ecological design, in that his ideas often involve applications that become the basis of alternative technologies. His principal professional interests have included solving problems of food production and...
  
  ,
• Gary Vaynerchuk
  Gary Vaynerchuk
  Gary Vaynerchuk is a video blogger, co-owner and director of operations of a wine retail store, and an author and public speaker on the subjects of social media, brand building and e-commerce. Vaynerchuk immigrated to the U.S...
  
   of Wine Library TV,
• Wangari Maathai
  Wangari Maathai
  Wangari Muta Mary Jo Maathai was a Kenyan environmental and political activist. She was educated in the United States at Mount St. Scholastica and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as the University of Nairobi in Kenya...
  
  ,
• Janine Benyus
  Janine Benyus
  Janine M. Benyus is an American natural sciences writer, innovation consultant, and author.-Life:Benyus graduated summa cum laude from Rutgers University with degrees in natural resource management and english literature/writing. Benyus teaches interpretive writing, lectures at the University of...
  
  ,
• Miguel Altieri
  Miguel Altieri
  Miguel Altieri is a Professor of Agroecology at the University of California, Berkeley in the Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management. He received a BS in Agronomy from the University of Chile and holds a Ph.D. in Entomology from the University of Florida.He teaches courses in...
  
  ,
• Jeremy Narby
  Jeremy Narby
  Jeremy Narby is an anthropologist and writer. Narby grew up in Canada and Switzerland, studied history at the University of Canterbury, and received a doctorate in anthropology from Stanford University....
  
  ,
• Paul Stamets
  Paul Stamets
  Paul E. Stamets is an American mycologist, author, and advocate of bioremediation and medicinal mushrooms.- Research and advocacy :...
  
  ,
• Andy Lipkis,
• Pierre Rabhi
  Pierre Rabhi
  Pierre Rabhi is a French writer, farmer and environmentalist. Originally a Muslim, he converted to Christianity when he started his studies in France as a youth...
  
  ,
• David W. Orr
  David W. Orr
  David W. Orr is the Paul Sears Distinguished Professor of Environmental Studies and Politics at Oberlin College and a James Marsh Professor at the University of Vermont. He is a well known environmentalist and is active in many areas of environmental studies, including environmental education and...
  
  ,
• Jeannette Armstrong
  Jeannette Armstrong
  Jeannette Armstrong is an Okanagan Canadian author, educator, artist, and activist. She was born and grew up on the Penticton Indian reserve in British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley...
  
  ,
• Sebastião Salgado
  Sebastião Salgado
  Sebastião Salgado is a Brazilian social documentary photographer and photojournalist.-Biography:Salgado was born on February 8, 1944 in Aimorés, in the state of Minas Gerais, Brazil. After a somewhat itinerant childhood, Salgado initially trained as an economist, earning a master’s degree in...
  
  ,
• Majora Carter
  Majora Carter
  Majora Carter is an economic consultant, public radio host, and environmental justice advocate from the South Bronx area of New York City. Carter founded the non-profit environmental justice solutions corporation Sustainable South Bronx before entering the private sector.-Early life:Carter...
  
  ,
• Alice Waters
  Alice Waters
  Alice Louise Waters is an American chef, restaurateur, activist, and author. She is the owner of Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, California restaurant famous for its organic, locally-grown ingredients and for pioneering California cuisine.Waters opened the restaurant in 1971. It has consistently ranked...
  
  ,
• Wes Jackson
  Wes Jackson
  -Early life and Education:Jackson was born and raised on a farm near Topeka, Kansas. After earning a BA in biology from Kansas Wesleyan University, an MA in botany from the University of Kansas, and a PhD in genetics from North Carolina State University, Wes Jackson established and served as chair...
  
  , Richard Register, and more.

External links

• Dirt! The Movie at PBS.org