Does the Most Widely Used Weed Killer in the World Cause Cancer?

Published by News Room on Aug 08, 2023 9:00 AM

FROM JENNIFER BAICHWAL, ONE OF NORTH AMERICA’S MOST INFLUENTIAL DOCUMENTARIANS, THE NATIONWIDE THEATRICAL EVENT ON OCTOBER 3, 2023

WILL OPEN ON 600+ SCREENS AND FEATURE

EXCLUSIVE FOLLOW-UP FOOTAGE

TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE AT FATHOMEVENTS.COM

“A terrifying, tremendous courtroom drama… through deft editing and a keen sense of detail, Baichwal manages to compress the case of Johnson vs. Monsanto Company into a superbly paced, tightly wound thriller”

— Barry Hertz, The Globe and Mail

“…another illustration of coldblooded corporate denialism

in the face of widespread harm…”

— Dennis Harvey, Variety

“Startling…Extremely important, essential viewing that affects every one of us.”

— Anne Brodie, What She Said

SYNOPSIS

Does the most widely used weed killer in the world cause cancer? On October 3, 2023, Film Movement and Fathom Events invite audiences to discover for themselves with a special one-night only nationwide theatrical release of INTO THE WEEDS, which follows the story of groundskeeper Lee Johnson and his fight for justice against agrichemical giant Monsanto (now Bayer, which bought the company in 2018), the manufacturer of the weed killer, Roundup.

In 2015, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), a branch of the World Health Organization, classified glyphosate – the active ingredient in Roundup – as “probably carcinogenic to humans.” A year later, Johnson filed a lawsuit claiming that Ranger Pro, a commercial-grade variant of Roundup, was a substantial contributing factor in causing his Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Johnson’s was the first “bellwether case” in a mass tort against Monsanto involving tens of thousands of plaintiffs: gardeners, golfers, farmers, groundskeepers, and ordinary people, following and trusting the instructions on the label.

Blending interviews, testimonials, trial footage, news coverage, and vérité, the film follows the progression of this groundbreaking lawsuit, while also stepping back to consider the systemic impact of glyphosate-based herbicides on human health, our food systems, and the biodiversity of our planet.

This special event screening of INTO THE WEEDS will also feature exclusive follow-up bonus footage exploring the question: “Can there be a future without pesticides and if so, how do we get there?” Featuring findings and expert testimony from scientists, doctors, policymakers, farmers, environmentalists, food safety advocates, and concerned public figures, audiences will leave the screening both informed and inspired to take action at home, at work, and in their communities.

The nationwide theatrical event on October 3 opening on more than 600 screens is being supported by the following NGO Official Screening Partners: Environmental Working Group, Friends of the Earth, Re:wild Your Campus, Pesticide Action Network North America, Green America’s Soil & Climate Alliance and the Center for Food Safety.

Pioneering, family run organic food company Nature’s Path is also an official partner.

“Into the Weeds so powerfully exemplifies the need to eliminate the use of toxic pesticides in our food system,” says Jyoti Stephens, VP Mission and Strategy at Nature’s Path Organic Foods. “Increasing organic food consumption is one of the key solutions consumers can enact to protect themselves, as research shows an organic diet can quickly and substantially reduce pesticide exposure in humans by 70% in just six days. It is profoundly moving, and scientific evidence like this helps drive Nature’s Path’s mission to make organic food available to all.”

The Opening Night Film of Hot Docs 2022, and an Official Selection of the Hamptons International Film Festival was directed by one of North America’s foremost and influential documentarians, Jennifer Baichwal. Her previous award-winning films include Manufactured Landscapes, named as one of 150 Essential Works in Canadian Cinema History by TIFF in 2016, and Anthropocene: The Human Epoch, that played Sundance and Berlin, then won the Toronto Film Critics

Association Prize for Best Canadian Film and a Canadian Screen Award in 2019.

Tickets for INTO THE WEEDS can be purchased NOW viaFathomEvents.com and at participating theaters. For a complete list of theater locations, visit the Fathom Events website. (Theater participants are subject to change).

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For more information on the film, visit the official INTO THE WEEDS site:https://www.intotheweedsimpact.com/

FOR INTO THE WEEDS THEATRICAL ASSETS, GO HERE

**DIRECTOR JENNIFER BAICHWAL IS AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS**

INTO THE WEEDS (2022)

Written & Directed by:Jennifer Baichwal

Produced by: Jennifer Baichwal, Nicholas de Pencier

Executive Produced by: Nicholas de Pencier, Daniel Iron, Geralyn Dreyfous

Associate Produced by: Nadia Tavazzani

Cinematography by:Nicholas de Pencier CSC, John Price

Edited by:Roland Schlimme, David Wharnsby

Genre: Documentary

RT: 96 minutes

Screening links are available; to request, please contact:

Michael Krause

Foundry Communications

(212) 586-7967| [email protected]

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About Fathom Events

Fathom Events is a recognized leader in the entertainment industry as one of the top distributors of content to movie theaters in North America. Owned by AMC Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: AMC); Cinemark Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: CNK); and Regal, a subsidiary of the Cineworld Group (LSE: CINE.L), Fathom operates the largest cinema distribution network, delivering a wide variety of programming and experiences to cinema audiences in all the top U.S. markets and to more than 45 countries. For more information, visit FathomEvents.com.

About Film Movement

Founded in 2002, Film Movement is a North American distributor of award-winning independent and foreign films based in New York City. It has released more than 300 feature films culled from prestigious film festivals worldwide. Film Movement’s theatrical releases include American independent films, documentaries, and foreign-language arthouse titles. Its catalog includes works by directors such as Ryusuke Hamaguchi, Lee Isaac Chung, Hirokazu Kore-eda, Maren Ade, Jessica Hausner, Andrei Konchalovsky, Andrzej Wajda, Ciro Guerra, Jan Komasa and Melanie Laurent. In 2015, Film Movement launched its reissue label Film Movement Classics, featuring new restorations released theatrically as well as on Blu-ray and DVD, including films by such noted directors as Ang Lee, Chen Kaige, Luchino Visconti, Stanley Kwan, Peter Greenaway, Bille August, Marleen Gorris, Takeshi Kitano, Arturo Ripstein, King Hu, and Sergio Corbucci. For more information, please visit www.filmmovement.com. Visit www.filmmovementplus.com for more information about Film Movement Plus, Film Movement’s critically-lauded subscription streaming service.