King Corn (2007) on Netflix
NR20071h 28mDocumentary
Ian Cheney and Curtis Ellis, friends from college, leave Boston for Greene, Iowa, to grow an acre of corn. Neither knows where his food comes from.
- Netflix3.6/5
- IMDb7.0/102,142 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes96%
Trailer
Plot summary
Ian Cheney and Curtis Ellis left college without knowing how their food was made, so they moved from Boston to Greene, Iowa, where both families have roots, and farmed one acre of corn. With genetically modified seed, fertilizer and herbicides, and with help from farmers, they grew a crop. Government subsidies push farmers to plant corn in enormous volume, and industrialization has replaced many family farms with larger corporate ones. Corn sweetens many cheap foods, including fast food, as high fructose corn syrup. The pair's plan is to follow their acre of corn into the food system that consumes it.
Cast
- Curtis Ellisas Himself
- Bob Bledsoeas Himself - Bledsoe Cattle Company
- Dawn Cheneyas Herself - Relative
- Don Clikemanas Himself - Farmer
- Elna Clikemanas Herself - Farmer
- Ken Cookas Himself - Environmental Working Group
- Loren Cordainas Himself - University of Colorado
- Curt Ellisas Himself
- Audrae Ericksonas Herself - Corn Refiners Association
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about King Corn (2007)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Raising money for King Corn was one of the biggest hurdles for filmmakers Ian Cheney, Curtis Ellis, and director Aaron Woolf, since most people they approached found the idea of a documentary about corn farming boring and did not understand what they were trying to do.
- Director Aaron Woolf struggled with his own subjects' camera shyness: Ian Cheney and Curtis Ellis, the two friends the film follows, did not want to appear on camera at all for the first six months of filming.
- When Cheney and Ellis screened King Corn for residents of Greene, Iowa, the town where they had grown their acre of corn, the film was so well received that it actually spurred a number of the locals to take action afterward.
