McCollum, Monteith. Hybrid—One Man’s Passion for Corn. Watertown: Documentary Educational Resources, Inc., 2002. 16 mm, 92 min. https://youtu.be/jStyOuVV9A4.
In a rather unusual form, where animations of crawling and mating corncobs alternate with meditative nature scenes, Hybrid tells the story of one man’s obsession with hybrid corn. Using dry Midwestern wit, the film describes the sexuality of corn and delves deep into one family’s complex relationship with an eccentric man who finds solace in the whispers of rustling cornfields. This poetic opus says as much about the pragmatic spiritual values and emotional inhibitions of the American hinterland as it does about the archetypal Midwesterner, Milford Beeghly. Beeghly had a passion for developing hybrid corn and appeared on early black and white television hawking his daring new seed at a time when hybridization was considered a wicked kind of plant incest. The film is in part a history of agricultural practices during the depression and a science lesson explaining how corn procreates. Hybrid takes on a fuller resonance because of the current fears about the harm that might be done by genetically engineered crops. (Source: Documentary Educational Resources, Inc.)
© 2002 Documentary Educational Resources, Inc. Trailer used with permission.
This film is available at the Rachel Carson Center Library (RCC, 4th floor, Leopoldstrasse 11a, 80802 Munich) for on-site viewing only. For more information, please contact library@rcc.lmu.de.
