The Biggest Little Farm 2019
Previous FilmsTHE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM chronicles the eight-year quest of John and Molly Chester as they trade city living for 200 acres of barren farmland and a dream to harvest in harmony with nature. Through dogged perseverance and embracing the opportunity provided by nature’s conflicts, the Chesters unlock and uncover a biodiverse design for living that exists far beyond their farm, its seasons, and our wildest imagination. Featuring breathtaking cinematography, captivating animals, and an urgent message to heed Mother Nature’s call, THE BIGGEST LITTLE FARM provides us all a vital blueprint for better living and a healthier planet.
The Filmmakers
John Chester, Director
John Chester has been a filmmaker and television director for the last 25 years. His recent short films for OWN’s Super Soul Sunday (including Saving Emma, Worry for Maggieand The Orphan) have won five Emmy Awards, for outstanding directing, writing, and cinematography, among others. Chester first reached a wide audience with his primetime television docu-series on A&E, Random 1, which he directed and starred in in 2006. The series then inspired his feature documentary Lost in Woonsocket, which premiered at SXSW in 2007. Chester also directed the documentary Rock Prophecies,about legendary rock photographer Robert Knight, which won three audience awards for best documentary feature and was distributed nationally on PBS in 2010. Alongside his feature documentary work, it was the time he spent traveling the world as a wildlife filmmaker with Animal Planet and ITV Wildlife shows that inspired his interest in the complex interworking of ecosystems—a curiosity that serves him well on Apricot Lane Farms,the biodynamic and regenerative farm he and his wife started in 2010.
Sandra Keats, Producer
Sandra Keats is a documentary producer, whose work focuses largely on environmental and social issues worldwide. Sandra recently co-produced the feature documentary Eating Animals,directed by Christopher Quinn and produced with Natalie Portman and Jonathan Safran Foer, based on Foer’s critically acclaimed book of the same name. The film premiered at the 2017 Telluride Film Festival, and was recently distributed theatrically by IFC Films/Sundance Selects. Sandra was also a co-producer on Lauren Greenfield’s documentary Wealth: The Influence of Affluence (Sundance 2018/Amazon Studios), and prior to that co-produced the 2012 Sundance Audience Award-winning documentary short The Debutante Hunters,and Participant Media’s Misconception (Tribeca 2014)—her second feature documentary collaboration with Oscar-winning director Jessica Yu and producer Elise Pearlstein. A graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, Sandra began her career in documentaries as an associate producer on Participant Media’s Last Call at the Oasis,which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and Berlin International Film Festival prior to a theatrical release in 2012.