Director: Phie Ambo
Good Things Await
Rating: 4/5
Good Things Await is a documentary that has already been playing well on the festival circuit and marks the return of Phie Ambo to the director's chair; Ambo is one of two female filmmakers whose work is part of the UK Green Film Festival programme this year.
Good Things Await take a look into the farming world and some of the more unusual methods undertaken by Niels Stokholm. Approaching eighty, Niels still runs his biodynamic farm with his with Rita in accordance with spiritual law.
Living in the Danish countryside, the idealistic couple face regular visits - and fines - from government inspectors pointing out their unusual methods. At the same time, a businessman wants to distribute products to some of the finest and hippest Michelin star restaurants in the world.
A film about farming may not - on paper - sound that riveting but Good Things Await really is a terrific watch with a great character at the film's core.
This so easily could have been a simple film about how authorities are interfering with Stokholm's life and the way that he chooses to run his rather successful enterprise. Instead, she has chosen to really get to know the farmer and this is far more a character piece than it is about farming and his methods.
Some of Stokholm's methods are considered quite controversial - the authorities are banging on his door every five minutes because he won't conform to their way of doing things - and Ambo really has tried to engage with his ideas and philosophy.
As a result, the director has really allowed audiences to get to know and understand Stokholm and his beliefs about running his farm and raising his livestock - whether you agree with the man when the credits have rolled, well, that is up to you.
There's no denying that Stokholm is an interesting character and you have got admire his unwillingness to bend to other people's rule and ideas, whether you agree with him or not.
Good Things Await really is a beautiful looking movie as the director really did take a moment to capture the beauty that was around her. Add in a wonderful score by Jóhann Jóhannsson, and this really does elevate it to something more.
This is a movie that really takes us into the world of biodynamic farming - a practice that most of us will never have heard of before. You will leave the cinema wondering if this is the future or if Stokholm is one of a kind.