Treurgrond (2015)

Through soil we become connected, our lives intertwine like roots deep down beneath the earth. It is from the soil that we grow and it is the soil that ultimately becomes our resting place. To farm is to understand the volatility of soil. The soil provides, heals and restores, but the soil also takes. Without the farmer there will be no produce, but without soil there will be no life. When the farmer becomes threatened, so does the land. Treurgrond tells the painful story of a farming community in South Africa trying to survive the numerous farm attacks confronting farmers almost every day. These gruesome acts affect not just those closely related to the victims, but set in motion a chain of events. Amidst the pressure and anxiety increased by the growing number of farm murders, Lukas Van Staden tries to protect his family, his friends and his farm. Treurgrond digs deeper into a world where relationships, regret, revenge and forgiveness are brought together by one circumstance from which hope and heeling rises. If one farm attack has such a massive impact on a community, what about all those we never hear about?