An elegiac portrait of Black southern farmers, Brittany Shyne’s beautiful “Seeds” represents a profound excavation of the lives of a subsection of farmers struggling to stay afloat. Yet, despite the hardships facing her subjects, “Seeds” is anything but a lament. Instead, this black-and-white documentary, filmed over the course of nine years, is a striking, yet unhurried, character study that is also one of the most beautiful documentaries to emerge from Sundance.
Deploying a vérité approach, Shyne’s camera moves between subjects and farms. This is a film less concerned with traditional documentary subjects or even contextualizing the farmers’ plight than it is simply being with the farmers, observing their day-to-day lives. The most fascinating of these is Willie Head Jr., a farmer and great-grandfather who acts as a de-facto protagonist, if only because Shyne’s camera seems so infatuated with him. 
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We initially meet him feeding his cows, explaining his frugal attempts to keep his farm running on just his social security checks, including slowly replacing the floor joists on his house. Further, he spends his afternoons also taking care of his great-granddaughter Alani. His passion for farming, as well as his love of his family, grounds the film.
Head also acts as an advocate for himself and other Black farmers, forced into the role because the government has effectively forgotten these farmers. His calls to the Farm Service Agency act as a type of requiem; a reminder of how politicians cater to these constituencies when they need votes, only to effectively ignore them after elections. When he eventually goes to D.C. to protest the Biden administration and their treatment of Black farmers, it feels less like a political stance and more like an act of survival. But this film isn’t a polemic. The information we glean is often from overheard conversations. When Head or any of the other farmers directly address the camera, it feels conversational, less contextual and more so a piece of information being passed along to a friend.
Instead, “Seeds” is much more attuned to the rhythms of the seasons, and the ways that these farmers persist across generations. That the film begins with a funeral, only to transition into a car as an elderly woman Clara tells her grandniece about the family farm, feels relevant. While the film could feel funerary, it importantly makes a point of showcasing the next generation. Many of these farms, have been in the family for 100 years and will continue to operate as long as they are able. 
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“Seeds” ‘leisurely pace might turn off some. The film is just over two hours long and is content to take its time with particular scenes. Shyne never feels in a rush to reach a particular conclusion. Thus, it’s leisurely while never being listless. Instead, its portrait of Black farmers builds towards an understanding of the collective familial power of these farms, with an understanding the government has abandoned many of these workers when it’s convenient. A particularly heartbreaking scene sees Head talk about his support of Biden and his feelings of recent neglect. While Head indirectly speaks to the collective power of advocacy, he also underscores an understanding that local communities can enact change. “Seeds” may be indebted to the elder subjects that Shyne centralizes, but it’s also a film that dares to look forward, suggesting that — despite everything — these farms will continue. [A-]