Cyrus Sutton’s “Island Earth” Makes Hawaiian Debut

Author: Justin Housman | Published: December 5, 2016

Filmmaker/pro surfer Cyrus Sutton has spent the past couple years making “Island Earth,” a documentary chronicling Hawaii’s rural communities as they push back against Big Ag’s experimentation with GMO crops and advanced pesticides, in a battle to retake control over their own food supply. “Island Earth” has its Hawaii premiere tonight at Waihuena Farm, 59-414 Kam Highway, across from OTW. There will be free food and drinks at 6:00pm HAST, the film shows at 6:30 pm, and there’s a Q&A with Sutton and Kauai’s Dustin Barca—who’s become an outspoken activist in the battle against GMOs—following the movie. If you’re on the North Shore, come on out. It’s open to the public.

I talked with Sutton a couple years back when he’d just plunged into the filmmaking process. Here’s what Sutton had to say about the motivation behind “Island Earth” when it was still in its infancy.

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JH: What drew you in about this story and motivated you to make a documentary?

CS: It all started with Korduroy.tv five or six years ago. I founded that website to promote simpler values in our surf culture. Our focuses were taking care of gear, staying healthy, helping our communities, and saving money. Around that time, my friend Loren Luyendyk introduced me to permaculture and regenerative agriculture which are basically methods of sustaining communities without fossil fuels by growing food in balance with natural systems, instead of fighting them with pesticides and chemical fertilizers.

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