A chilling warning from distant farmlands

Would you believe it if someone said many American children go to bed hungry? Well, that is the reported reality of rural America, which succumbed to the corporatisation of agriculture in the 1980s.

Bedabrata Pain’s documentary film ‘Deja Vu’ offers a fresh perspective on the year-long farmers’ protest against the three contentious farm bills passed in 2020. He traces what happened to American farmers after agriculture was corporatised in the country four decades ago.

According to Pain’s documentary, four people set out on a 10,000-km journey through the farmlands of America — Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Missouri and Wisconsin — to understand what capitalism does to small farmers. Like India, 90% of US farmers are small-scale, according to the film.

Narrated by actor Ali Fazal, the film begins with footage from the 2020 farmers' protest, said to be the largest such protest ever. It features interviews with Indian and American farmers. Farmers describe how small towns in states like Missouri and Oklahoma, which once thrived on large dairy businesses, are now left with just two or three bars, a gun shop, a feed mill and a funeral home.

“There is no wealth left in rural America,” they say.

The film, which has also been dubbed in Hindi and narrated by Naseeruddin Shah, highlights farmer suicides in the US, which are reportedly four times the national average. Farmers who had inherited farms passed down over generations, some dating back 100 years, killed themselves because of mounting debt.

A farmer explains corporate tactics: they undercut local businesses, create monopolies, and force farmers to sell to them. For example, they set up shops that sell at lower prices than local companies, sometimes even below production cost, and then buy out struggling businesses, leaving farmers with no choice but to sell to corporates.

Among the many interesting charts and infographics was the cost breakdown of a burger. A restaurant charges 9 USD for a burger, while the ingredients cost less than 2 USD. How much does a farmer get? Just 26 cents. “The food that we eat today is in the hands of those who do not farm,” a rancher says.

Pain’s documentary also highlights how a US multinational food and beverage company exploited Indian farmers as a reminder of the consequences of contract farming. Remember the potato farming contract controversy? In the ’90s, the company entered into contracts for potato farming. When the market price rose to Rs 10, it refused to pay that amount, citing the contract price of Rs 5. It then introduced strict quality criteria, which it used to reject produce when market prices fell below the contract rate. In 2019, the company also tried suing farmers for Rs 1 crore each for cultivating the 'FC5' (FL 2027) potato variety used to make its chips. Indian farmers revolted.

The snow-covered lanes of the American countryside through which the team drives reflect the chilling political landscape shaped by capitalism. "Those who don’t learn from history are condemned to repeat those mistakes," Pain tells DH.

He juxtaposes the historical plight of American farmers with what Indian farmers could have faced had the farm bills not been repealed, making a powerful and poignant statement. It is no surprise what capitalism is capable of, yet when you listen to farmers, revered as ‘annadata’, speak of their plight, you are briefly left in disbelief at its haunting effects.

The film ends with American farmers expressing elation over Indian farmers protesting against the farm bills. One farmer even says there are not enough farmers left in the US to stage a protest. Pain believes the film should be shown to farmers, policymakers and students across India. “The film talks about the food security of India. You have a live example from another country about what happens when corporations take over farming,” he says. However, when Pain approached universities, there was some reluctance and a need for “police permission”.

“In today’s world, when hate has been normalised through so many channels, and when you want to show something serious, to say that you need police permission sounds rather strange. Then there is this need for a CBFC certificate,” he adds.

While making the film, Pain realised that one of the reasons why the farmlands in America turned rightward is because left liberals have stopped caring about economic insecurity. “The question of social justice is vital today, but if we don’t focus on economic justice, I don’t think we will find any real solution,” he says. 

He took the film to show farmers across north India and at some societies. It also screened at film festivals including the documentary and short film fest in Kerala (IDSFFK), the Kolkata Film Festival and will also be screened at New York Indian Film Festival.

For Pain, 'Deja Vu', more than anything is a film about anti-corporate monopoly.