| Farming | |
| Director: | Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje |
| Music: | Ilan Eshkeri |
| Cinematography: | Kit Fraser |
| Editing: | Tariq Anwar |
| Distributor: | Lionsgate |
| Runtime: | 102 minutes |
| Country: | United Kingdom |
| Language: | English |
Farming is a 2018 British film written and directed by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, based on his own childhood. The plot is about a child whose Yorùbá parents give him to a white working-class family in London in the 1980s, and who grows up to join a white skinhead gang led by a white supremacist.[1]
The film, which stars Damson Idris, Kate Beckinsale, John Dagleish, Jaime Winstone, Genevieve Nnaji, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, wrapped production in 2017.[2] It premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival on 8 September and won the Michael Powell Award at the 2019 Edinburgh Film Festival.[3] The film was released by Lionsgate on 11 October 2019 in the UK and by eOne on 25 October 2019 in the US.
Farming premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival on 8 September in the Discovery Section.[4] The film won the Michael Powell Award at the 2019 Edinburgh Film Festival.[5] On 17 September 2018, the film's distribution rights were purchased for several countries and regions: the United Kingdom, France, Benelux, Australia, New Zealand, Latin America, South Korea, China, Greece, Portugal, Serbia, Montenegro, Singapore, the Middle East, and Turkey.[6] Lionsgate UK released the film in the United Kingdom on 11 October 2019, followed by a United States release on 25 October.[7]
Production visited two Kent locations in Farming. At the first, The Historic Dockyard Chatham, various areas such as at The Joiner’s Shop, House Carpenters Shop, and the rear of The Smithery, Ropery and Anchor Wharf were used. Production also visited a jewellery shop in Gillingham for some further scenes.[8]
The review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes reported approval rating based on reviews, with an average score of .[9] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average of 51 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[10] Screen Daily wrote of the film, “Actor turned director Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje makes an arresting feature debut with Farming. Told with raw emotion and lurid violence, it transforms elements of his life story into a disturbing, eye-opening coming of age drama.”[11]