Main Cast: Ian Cheney, Curt Ellis, Stephen Macko, Chuck Pyatt, Ricardo Salvador
Release Year: 2007
Country: US
Run Time: 90 minutes
Plot
Two friends with one year to spare and a deep curiosity about the American food distribution system set out to grow and acre of corn and see what becomes of their crop in director Aaron Woolf's agricultural-themed documentary. Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis are best friends from college who have decided to move from the east coast to the Midwest in hopes of getting a better idea where the food they consume on a daily basis actually comes from. Corn is America's most productive and subsidized grain. Upon relocating to Iowa, the pair and seeks out the assistance of friends and neighbors in procuring the land, seeds, fertilizers, and herbicides needed to grow a one-acre bumper crop of this highly-versatile commodity. As their maize is harvested and the sometimes-troubling realities of modern faming begin to emerge, the pair sets off on a mission to track the progress of their product and find out just how it is used to create a variety of different food products. What emerges is an informative and at times disturbing account of both the food Americans so readily consume without so much as a second though and the alarming state of the contemporary agricultural industry. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
Cast
Ian Cheney
Curt Ellis
Stephen Macko
Chuck Pyatt
Ricardo Salvador
Dawn Cheney; Rich Johnson; Al Marth; Michael Pollan; Scott McGregor; Bob Bledsoe; Sue Jarrett; Dean Jarrett; Allen Trenkele; Loren Cordain; Audrae Erickson; Fray Mendez; Farida Khan; Sabita Moktan; Earl Butz
Credit
Ian Cheney - Co-producer, Curt Ellis - Co-producer, Aaron Woolf - Director, Richard Bock - Editor, Jeffrey K. Miller - Editor, Sally Jo Fifer - Executive Producer, The WoWz - Composer (Music Score), Spencer Chakedis - Composer (Music Score), Bo Ramsey - Composer (Music Score), Aaron Woolf - Cinematographer, Sam Cullman - Cinematographer, Ian Cheney - Cinematographer, Aaron Woolf - Producer, Richard Bock - Sound/Sound Designer, Aaron Woolf - Screenwriter, Jeffrey K. Miller - Screenwriter, Ian Cheney - Screenwriter, Curt Ellis - Screenwriter
King Corn is a feature documentary film released in October 2007 following college friends Ian Cheney and Curtis Ellis as they move to Greene, Iowa to grow and farm an acre of corn. In the process, Cheney and Ellis examine the role that the increasing production of corn has for American society.
The film shows how the industrialization of corn has all but eliminated the family farm, which is being replaced by larger and larger industrial farms. This trend reflects a larger industrialization of the North American food system, whereby, as was outlined in the film, decisions relating to what crops are grown, and how they are grown, are based more on economic considerations than their ramifications on the environment or the population. This is demonstrated in the film by the production of high fructose corn syrup, an ingredient found in many cheap food products, such as fast food.
Critical reception
King Corn received generally positive reviews. The film earned a review score of 70 from the review aggregate site Metacritic (based on 15 reviews). Rotten Tomatoes awarded the film a score of 95% (based on 20 reviews).
