Press release:
Documentary Film About the Benefits of Industrial Hemp to Screen June 17th at Asheville Community Theatre
Film screening with North Carolina Directors of Award-winning “Bringing it Home” to Discuss Hemp’s benefits for Green Jobs, Health and Environment
ASHEVILLE, NC – On Tuesday, June 17, 2014 at 7:30pm, “Bringing It Home, an award-winning documentary film about industrial HEMP, healthy houses, and a greener future for America,” will be shown at the Asheville Community Theatre. The North Carolina filmmakers Linda Booker and Blaire Johnson will be attending for post-screening discussion with Asheville resident Anthony Brenner, whose 2010 story in USA Today inspired the film. Tickets are $10 and available at the ACT box office and online.
Hemp is in the national media spotlight as a result of the recent Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s lawsuit against the DEA to release industrial hemp seeds being held in Customs for the state’s research pilot programs. Bringing It Home explores the question of why hemp, a beneficial crop grown in 31 other industrialized nations, is not legal for U.S. farmers to grow under Federal law. The film uncovers the history of hemp, its myriad industrial applications and legalization efforts. The film is being screened in conjunction with Hemp History Week 2014, with over fifty screenings in major cities across the country.
WHEN: Tuesday, June 17, 2014, 7:30pm
WHAT: Asheville NC Screening of documentary film Bringing It Home (52 min) and post-screening discussion with filmmakers Linda Booker and Blaire Johnson. Hemp Beer from Lookout Brewing Company, hemp food, product samples and displays.
WHERE: Asheville Community Theatre, 35 E Walnut Street, Asheville 28801
TICKETS: $10 available at ACT Box Office and www.ashevilletheatre.org
Bringing It Home received this year’s Jury Award at the 2014 Wild & Scenic Environmental Film Festival and Best Environmental Film from the Sedona International Film Festival. It was also recognized with an Audience Award at the Cape Town South Africa Film. Filmmakers Linda Booker and Blaire Johnson were inspired by environmentally conscious home designer Anthony Brenner’s story to find the healthiest materials available to build a safe indoor environment for his young daughter, Bailey, who has a sensitivity to synthetic chemicals. Brenner received national media attention when he and Hemp Technologies completed “The Nation’s First Hemp House” for the former mayor of Asheville Russ Martin and his wife Karon Korp. Booker and Johnson tell the story of hemp through animation, archival images and footage of hemp business leaders from England, Spain, Washington, D.C., California and North Carolina. Booker and Johnson met at the Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University in 2003 and the film is a project of the Southern Documentary Fund based in Durham. Through its grassroots audience engagement screening tour, the documentary aims to magnify dialogue about hemp in order to facilitate America’s transition to a more informed, sustainable and healthy future.
Local and National business sponsors and organizations supporting the June 17th film screening include: Lookout Brewing Company, Roots Hummus, Fifth Season, Green Festival, The Green Sage Coffeehouse & Café, Organic Growers School, Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, Livity Ever Bars, Manitoba Harvest, Nutiva and Hemp History Week.
For more information and film trailer, go to: www.BringingItHomeMovie.com.
The fifth annual Hemp History Week will be held from June 2–8, 2014. The theme of the 2014 campaign is It’s Time to Grow! A national grassroots education campaign designed to amplify support for hemp farming in the U.S., Hemp History Week 2014 will feature an estimated 1,000 events in Asheville and other cities and towns throughout all 50 states. In Asheville, retail promotion participants include Earthfare, Greenlife Wholefoods, French Broad Food Coop and Corner Grove Market and The Green Sage Coffeehouse & Café is participating in the restaurant program. Hemp History Week 2014 is spearheading an online letter-writing drive to encourage the Obama Administration and Congress to change federal law that currently prohibits American farmers from growing industrial hemp are all facets of the campaign to bring this environmentally sustainable and profitable crop back to American soil. More information and a promotional video for the campaign are available at: www.HempHistoryWeek.com.
Producer/Director Linda Booker is available for interviews. For photo requests please contact her at lbooker@blast.com or (919) 795-2140. 
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