About the film

About the film

In this triumphant film, director and actress Rachel Ward voyages from her own wilful ignorance about the ecological impacts of conventional agriculture, to championing a movement to restore the health of our farmland, food and climate and in doing so the wellbeing of the farming communities that sustain the nation, and ourselves. Rachel's Farm is for anyone who cares about how their food is produced, how degraded our soils have become, and the changing role of women on farms.

The film unfolds through Rachel’s experiences, her personality, charm and self-deprecating humour. Her fear for a changing planet are our fears, and we are invested in her process of learning, experimenting, and, eventually, challenging others. Rachel’s love of rural life, as an avid horse rider and actively working on the farm, as well as her family focus, lay the foundations of a character we care about and can relate to. As she sets out to change her own farm, and Australia, we are driven from scene to scene by the urgent questions - and often setbacks - arising along the way.

A story of Australian land use and occupation cannot be told without Indigenous stories and recognition, shared by the keepers of those stories and those they appoint and approve to tell those stories. The film explores the deep knowledge of regenerative agriculture practices held by Australia's Indigenous peoples' for millennia, with Director/Producer and Bidjara-Dhunghutti woman, Ljudan Michaelis-Thorpe, aboard the project as Director of Indigenous Content.

The producers

Rachel's Farm is produced by WildBear Entertainment, known for Emmy-nominated feature documentary Playing with Sharks, and New Town Films. Executive Producers Regen Studios, the team behind the high-impact feature documentary 2040, are leading the film's impact campaign.

Rachel’s motivation

My inspiration for Rachel’s Farm came from personally experiencing the Australian Black Summer bushfires in 2019 and subsequently reading Charles Massey's book Call of the Reed Warbler which details the challenges and accomplishments of many early adopters of the regenerative way of farming. I was inspired by the heroics of these farmers' stories, many of whom had gone bust from farming conventionally in ever degenerating soils and increasing droughts before transitioning to regenerative farming practices. Consumed by the country’s devastating destruction, I was suddenly able to move from despair and impotence to action.

As a farm owner, I had a personal story to tell too. During the three year drought, I was forced to buy in feed, then sell half my herd. Then, caught like many in Black Summer fires, I lost all my fencing. Salvation arrived with the introduction of a way of farming more in sync with nature and I was galvanised to take meaningful action, not only with the way I farmed my land, but as a consumer and as a filmmaker.

- Rachel Ward

Unleash nature’s innate regenerative abilities to heal our soil, climate and food systems and ourselves.

Impact campaign

The 2020's have seen Australia and the world ravaged by catastrophic fires, Covid lockdowns and devastating floods. It has been a great contemplative time for many of us. Feeling vulnerable as humans gives cause to consider where our food comes from, the future of our children and our planet’s sustainability. Landscapes are desertifying, our waters are noxious with chemicals, our soils depleted and in Australia our per capita carbon footprint is 3x the global average. But could a solution to radically change this paradigm be right under our feet?

More than just a film, Rachel's Farm is the entry point into a growing movement of people and readily available solutions that are working to support farmers and regenerate our soils, food and climate systems - and everyone is invited to join.

With the Rachel's Farm impact campaign we will:

• Mobilise consumer consciousness of the health and climate benefits of regeneratively farmed food
• Inspire government and business to factor biodiversity and soil health into decision-making
• Motivate investors and insurers to get behind regenerative farmers.

If you would like to help us unleash nature’s innate regenerative abilities to heal our soil, climate and food systems and ourselves:

Rachel's Farm was made possible by philanthropic donations from these generous foundations, families and individuals.

VRM Biologik, Macdoch Foundation, The Yulgibar Foundation, Capricorn Foundation, John Sevior, Grow Corp Foundation, WeirAnderson Foundation, Shark Island Foundation, The Vine Foundation, Sandra Salteri, FWH Foundation, Chasam Foundation, Lisa Barlow, Anita and Luca Belgiorno-Nettis Foundation, Lisa Chung, Osborne Properties Pty Ltd, Lindy Shelmerdine, Garry Rothwell, Mark Gabsch, and Anonymous.