The New Peasants
DVD Universities, Colleges, Community Screenings: $295
(includes Public Performance Rights)
DVD: Public Libraries and K-12 (circulation only): $49
Digital File (Life-of-File MP4) $400
(a download link will be emailed)
DVD and Life-of-File MP4 $450
(includes Public Performance Rights)
UPC: 680044984384
Synopsis
What happens when the values of the culture you’ve always known no longer align with how you see the world?
The New Peasants offers an intimate look into the life of Meg, Patrick, Zephyr, and Woody. A family who, for 20 years, have been transitioning away from modern industrial culture toward a radically simple, sustainable, and beautiful way of life. Concerns about the industrial food system and environmental crises provided the family’s initial motivation to live differently. Now it’s 15 years since they’ve eaten from a supermarket or owned a car. The household, living intentionally below the poverty line and meeting 80% of their needs without using money, is nonetheless rich in so many ways. Wealth is found in their cellar of preserved foods, connections with community, saved seeds, homesteading skills and the time to focus on what really matters in life. Yet the decision to live this way has brought profound challenges for their family, in the form of their eldest son’s encounters with the law. These experiences have produced immense grief, but, in the end, also great joy.This film shares the unfolding journey of a family rejecting the mainstream culture and working to create a new one. A culture and economy that draw on ways of the past while stepping joyfully into the future. For everything they’ve let go, something has been gained. With every challenge, something learned. This is one family’s response to the predicament of our time, offering an inspiring glimpse into the kind of future, culture, and economy we can create. This family’s way of living shows that transformative change begins at the home and community level and that we can all participate in creating a better world.
AWARD:
Best Environmental Documentary, Melbourne Documentary Film Awards 2025 (Australia)
TAGS: Permaculture, sustainability, simple living, organics, gardening, community, off-the-grid, home-school, sharing economy
Credits
Director: Jordan Osmond
Producer: Antoinette Wilson
2025 | 66 minutes | Happen Films, Australia
Spoken English with English SDH captions
REVIEWS ON IMDB
A tapestry of possibility. 10/10
There are countless environmental docos focussed on the big picture and wicked problems of our time, but far fewer that take the viewer deep into personal territory where change truly starts. The New Peasants tells the story of one family's radical response to the polycrisis, turning away from industrial food, energy and medicine towards the seasons, the forest, the community, and yep, even roadkill. I was lucky enough to catch this film as it premiered at Melbourne Documentary Film Festival to a full house, and the rapt attention and resounding applause said it all. The New Peasants is a visual feast and completely fascinating, regardless of whether sustainability is on your radar or not. Far from one-dimensional, it includes complex themes and one challenging thread that every parent will relate to. A hugely satiating cinematic experience that'll stay with me for a long, long time.
- CatieP-49
Commitment to Authentic Living. 10/10
I have been a massive fan of Happen Films for years, and their productions never disappoint in helping audiences connect with the stories they depict.
The New Peasants story centres on a family who chooses to live in accordance with natural laws, following the seasons and committing to the gift economy.
Their lives are not easy by any means, but rather conscious as they get on with living their best lives, learning, making mistakes, and trying to figure out life just like the rest of us do. But instead of chasing material growth, they are after inner, spiritual growth, building community, and respecting and using what nature provides.
Their story is authentic, moving, and surely depicts alternatives to the mainstream idea of what life should or shouldn't be.
I was deeply moved by The New Peasants film, which, to me, is about love, hope, and a commitment to living alongside nature in the best possible way.
- beatakibil