THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND is a revealing, startling, and at times hilarious exploration of the overwhelming corporate takeover of American life. Over the course of three years, the filmmakers traveled across the U.S., interviewing award-winning authors, historians, media commentators and ordinary citizens about the wide range of ways individuals experience the impact.  The film goes on to examine broader effects of corporate power on the social fabric and the very principles of democracy.

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND seamlessly weaves together an array of subjects-- branding and consumerism, media conglomeration, political kickbacks and the largest economic gap between the rich and the poor in the United States since the 1920’s. It looks at the history of American corporate power from the Boston Tea Party on, shedding light on the ways that corporations have grown over time, to the point today where they influence every aspect of people’s lives.

At the heart of THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND are the stories of remarkable individuals who have beaten the odds in their battles against corporate dominion. Father Tryphon, abbot of a Russian Orthodox monastery in Washington State, recounts his battle with Starbucks over the monks’ production of a “Christmas Blend” coffee roast (the term had been trademarked to the corporation). San Francisco activist Mark Kasky won the right to bring a false-advertising lawsuit against Nike, which the company had tried to defend by claiming protection under the first amendment right of free speech. Additional stories and interviewees include Doris Haddock (Granny D), author Tom Frank (“What’s the Matter with Kansas?”), Project-Censored award-winning author Thom Hartmann, cultural critic Naomi Klein, small town activist Jan Edwards, and many others.

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND is a powerful and moving exposé surrounding the current state of the American Dream. At the same time, it proves that every individual can make a difference, even when pitted against the enormous powers of big business.

Running time: 82 minutes

THIS LAND IS YOUR LAND  has screened in film festivals, art house theaters and special screenings across the U.S., in Europe, Asia and Africa. The film was included in Exit Art’s Exhibition “Other America”, at Art Basel, and it was one of only two feature length documentaries selected for the 2006 Whitney Museum of Art’s Biennial Exhibition “Day for Night”.

REVIEWS:

Top rate! A must-see documentary that keeps coming at you, with surprising facts and pointed observations about life in America as a result of decisions made by corporations.-- Bob Longino, THE ATLANTA JOURNAL CONSTITUTION

“This bright, tight and well-woven documentary is about capitalism, the economy, and the disparity between the wealthy and working class. With so much territory to cover, it also manages to successfully work in a lot of dialogue about the homogenized branding of America such as turning once signature communities such as Harlem into a mindless stretch with Starbucks, The Gap and Burger Kings on every corner. Wright and Cheatle do a great job talking to individuals, corporations and communities large and small about how unemployment, sweatshops and corporations attack the small guy.   One of the best stories tucked into this buffet of a documentary is Starbucks’ legal battle with a group of Russian Orthodox monks who used the name "Christmas Blend" to wholesale their coffee. The name had been trademarked by Starbucks. After a highly publicized legal battle that ended in the monks’ favor, the monks were allowed to continue using the label "Christmas Blend" and even received a free Starbucks latte and a tour of Starbucks facilities as a peace offering.  While this might sound like a wide-reaching, carbon copy of Michael Moore’s Bowling for Columbine, Wright and Cheatle definitely make their mark on This Land Is Your Land. While they do not want people to burn down their communities in protest, the film encourages people to stand up, ask questions and stop being afraid of corporate giants. The directors took so much footage, after three years of research and traveling coast to coast, that they have additional material for a second documentary. They have so much to say, and do it so well, that you might see them at the Oscars in a couple of years.--Stephanie Holmes, THE MONITOR

“This land is your land”—it doesn’t cost anything for companies to sell you that idea. The very words are already in the public domain. Yes, Woody Guthrie's 1951 tuneful agit-prop resonates strangely in post-historical America. The theme of Reagan's reelection campaign (after 9/11 the most misunderstood pop song ever; second is Springsteen's "Born in the USA") has become the nation's new anthem, a Francis Scott Keyed–up verse-chorus-verse abused to support the Bush campaign and sell Ford trucks.  Most recently, this song's gotten new purchase as the titular music of a new film by veterans Lori Cheatle and Daisy Wright. This Land is Your Land is a wonderful, irreverent, less-is-not-Michael Moore take on what the filmmakers call the "overwhelming corporate takeover of America life." In three years of crisscrossing the country, from California to the New York Island, from the Redwood Forests to the Gulf Stream Wa-ters, Cheatle and Wright interviewed artists like Ron English, Naomi Klein media types, and the small-business owner down the block about the ways in which their lives have been affected by the encroaching incorporation of small-town America, and by the consumerism that in tandem with a fierce sense of independence and religious zeal has resulted in the desecration of the American Dream.  With a respect for its subjects that borders on the folksy familiar, This Land is a documentary against documentaries: none of the Supersized antics more stunt than statement, little of the Fahrenheit scandal and pomp, what's to be found here are average people fighting against money and power for dignity and peace.”—Josh Cohen, NEW YORK PRESS

"I'm just going to be myself and wear what I'm wearing," says a teenage girl in a man-on-the-street interview. Ironically, she asserts her individuality in an Old Navy T-shirt and a Nike visor. This ambitious social-issues documentary considers what it means to be a person – a citizen, a worker, a neighbor – in a culture so wallpapered with corporate logos that we scarcely notice them on our own clothes; in a nation where transnational business entities enjoy the rights of personhood under the Constitution; in a society where the public airwaves are controlled by corporations; and individuals who broadcast are criminals. It succeeds by telling revealing stories (a Russian-Orthodox monastery battles Starbucks for the trademarked phrase "Christmas Blend") interspersed with salient commentary (with Jim Hightower and No Logo's Naomi Klein, among others). The filmmakers resist the talking-heads trap, so the film is consistently engaging despite its weightiness. Best is the straightforward coverage of a paper-products plant in Natchez, Miss., closed down by NAFTA; one employee relates, "When my stock goes up I've hurt another working man. ... It's almost as if people don't care whether you live or die." As powerful as Michael Moore's firebrand muckraking but without the grandstanding, This Land is essential viewing. --Marritt Ingman, AUSTIN CHRONICLE