Film
Farmlands
- Crime
- Very dark
Lauren Southern investigates violence against white farmers in South Africa, presenting interviews and on-the-ground reporting in a 73-minute documentary. It's a politically charged look at a real crisis, though one filtered entirely through a particular ideological lens. For viewers interested in South African land politics and willing to engage critically with a provocative argument.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you want a short, single-issue documentary that argues a position on a contested news story and leaves you to weigh its case yourself.
Skip it if you need balanced reporting, since this is a partisan argument from one filmmaker's viewpoint and its framing colors nearly everything you see.
What it asks of you: Under an hour and a quarter, it moves briskly through its material, with little breathing room and a steady, insistent tone that rarely lightens.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
All the President's Men1976
The template for investigative documentary storytelling: two reporters dig into a system, following evidence and sources with methodical precision. Teaches you what serious inquiry actually looks like.
But It's 138 minutes of 1970s procedural pacing, heavy on typewriters and phone calls. Slow if you're after drama.
Winter on Fire: Ukraine's Fight for Freedom2015
On-the-ground coverage of political violence and social upheaval in an Eastern European nation, shot during crisis. Documentary that doesn't shy from the brutality of what people face.
But It takes a clear political position on its subject, which some will find clarifying and others will find limiting.
The Act of Killing2012
Haunting examination of atrocity, perpetrators, and how societies reckon with mass violence. Unforgettable filmmaking that makes you sit with difficult moral questions.
But It's genuinely disturbing and long—295 minutes—and the moral ambiguity might frustrate those seeking simple answers.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Farmlands
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Come and See1985
Both examine violence against civilian populations and ask viewers to witness what atrocity means. Farmlands argues a political position; Come and See obliterates positions entirely and just shows you the wound.
Elem Klimov's devastating film follows a boy swept into war on the Eastern Front. It's the most unflinching portrayal of what violence actually does to people and communities—not ideologically, but physically and spiritually. Essential viewing about the cost of conflict.
But It's a Soviet-era film in Russian, black-and-white, 142 minutes, and genuinely one of the most brutal films ever made. Not a documentary; even more raw because it's dramatized.
More like this (7)
Citizenfour2014
Laura Poitras documents Edward Snowden and the NSA surveillance revelations as they unfold. Urgent, intimate, and genuinely suspenseful despite no action sequences.
But Takes Snowden's perspective as given. If you approach it skeptically, the framing may frustrate you.
The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst2015
Serialized investigation into a wealthy man credibly linked to multiple murders. Gripping storytelling that builds to a genuinely shocking moment most viewers won't forget.
But It spins its narrative with real showmanship; less interested in systematic truth than in keeping you watching.
Bowling for Columbine2002
Michael Moore's documentary about gun violence, America, and fear. Sharp-eyed social commentary that provokes real thinking about systems and culture.
But Moore's style is combative and sometimes manipulative. If his persona exhausts you immediately, this won't change your mind.
The Square2013
Documentary following activists in Cairo's Tahrir Square during the Egyptian revolution. Raw footage of political change happening in real time, with all its hope and tragedy.
But Handheld, chaotic, sometimes unclear who is speaking or what's happening. Demands active viewing.
Shadowplay2019
Explores how information and narrative shape our understanding of political conflict. A film about framing, media, and whose stories get told.
But Dense and cerebral, more interested in philosophy than narrative momentum. Can feel distant.
The Corporation2003
Both are argumentative documentaries built on interviews and investigation, designed to convince you that an entire system harms a group of people. Both present their case passionately rather than neutrally.
Documentary examining corporate power, capitalism, and who benefits from systems of control. Uses interviews, animation, and argument to make an ideological case about whose interests are being served.
But It's nearly 150 minutes of progressive polemic. If you disagree with its premises, it will feel relentless and one-sided.
Pumzi2009
Both engage with South African futures and land as the central moral question. Farmlands argues about land through investigation; Pumzi imagines it through science fiction. They're asking the same questions about belonging and survival through completely different languages.
A 10-minute science-fiction film set in a post-apocalyptic East Africa, exploring climate, land, identity, and survival. Gorgeous, strange, and utterly original—South African filmmaker Wanuri Kahiu made something unlike anything else.
But It's speculative fiction, not documentary. Very short. Not an argument but a vision. Won't give you answers.
People
Cast
Lauren SouthernSelf
Directing
- Lauren SouthernDirector
Writing
- George Llewelyn-JohnWriter
- Lauren SouthernWriter
Production
- Lauren SouthernExecutive Producer
- Caolan RobertsonProducer