The idyllic English countryside. An intensive dairy farmer called Derek. One day his neighbour, also a Derek, forsakes tradition, and starts to turn his land over to wild nature sparking a long-running feud. This film charts the two Derek's turbulent often funny relationship as tempers fray, wild animals escape, and the land is transformed.
Making a film with the two Dereks over the last three years was inspired by my own experience of working on farms in my youth. Back then (in the 1970s) - just writing that makes me feel old! - there were insects, birds and other wildlife in the fields. Now when I go into the countryside it’s eerily quiet.
We know there’s a reason for this. Insects, birds and wildlife have been wiped out because of the loss of their habitat and the use of the pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers in food production.
SUPPORTED BY HEROES LIKE YOU
Support independent eco journalism that drives real change.Some of the stats around biodiversity loss really shocked me. In England populations of spotted flycatcher, a once common bird, have fallen by -93 percent between 1967 and 2016, nightingale also by -93 percent, cuckoos by -77 percent. The list - sadly - goes on and on.
Britain’s once lovely green countryside is now virtually a lifeless green desert. And if the loss is not reversed we face what biologists are calling an "insect apocalypse" which threatens to destroy the foundations of our food system. With no pollinators for crop fertilisation or insects to break down waste we are heading for a crisis.
Over a long career making documentaries for the BBC and Channel Four I had found humour to be the best way of bringing audiences to difficult subjects. So I went in search of a story with great characters and drama that would allow me to explore why we have lost so much biodiversity but in a way that would entertain an audience not just regale them with bad news.
I came across one man loudly and unapologetically trying to turn the tide on this devastation - the notorious Derek Gow and his maverick rewilding project. He's a man who often makes the headlines. Not only was Gow going to restore his land to be "an oasis for nature" but he was planning to restock it by breeding a host of nearly extinct species! This seemed a Herculean task, could he do it? Would it work?
I started filming with Derek. Then, thinking it would be good to see what his farming neighbours made of his project, I met the other Derek, Derek Banbury. A larger-than-life dairy farmer committed to feeding the world, one of the first things he said to me with a grin was “most of the time nature just gets in the way”. He peers over his hedge in horror at what Gow is doing to a once productive farm: “It’s not farming. It’s just a bloody mess”. I really liked him.
I realised filming with both the Dereks could make a great story. They were engaging, articulate and bounced off each other. They didn’t agree about much but their enmity wasn’t bitter - it was more like an Ealing comedy played out over a hedgerow - which I also liked very much.
Starting from opposite points of view, the two Derek’s become embroiled in a series of tussles and arguments about hedge cutting, beaver restoration, wild boar incursions and the release of newly bred white storks. But as the seasons rolled around Derek Banbury started to reconsider a lifetime of intensive farming and remember what nature was like when he was young. It was fascinating to watch and film.
In a private screening at a local village hall we showed the finished film to contributors and neighbouring farmers. It was a great night. Everyone laughed at the funny bits but also responded to the underlying thought - that nature is in crisis. After the screenings all the talk was about what can be done not who’s to blame.
We want the film to play in cinemas and on tv but most of all we’re committed to getting the film in front of a rural audience so farmers and conservations can sit together and enjoy the film. I’d love the film to help push forward the debate around nature restoration.
Our goal is to show the film across the UK - 600 screenings around the country - in pubs, village halls, agricultural shows. And we need your help to do this.
If you can, please donate to our crowdfunder impact appeal and share the link on social media.
