- In 1988 director Kevin Tomlinson interviewed a group of back-to-the-land hippies at a 'healing gathering' in rural Washington State practicing peace and love. Now, in this poignant examination of this community over time, he tracks down those original interviewees and their children twenty years later to find out what the glories and sufferings of living out of the mainstream and off the grid might really look like.—Anonymous
- In the sixties they were satirized and vilified for rejecting materialism and corporate culture, in the seventies they stopped the war, started communes, urged back to the land and environmental sustainability...but by the eighties they had virtually disappeared from everyday life. So where did all the "flowers" go? In 1988-nearly twenty years after Woodstock-Seattle filmmaker Kevin Tomlinson asked himself that question while interviewing a group of back-to-the-land hippies at a back-country healing gathering in Washington State. He found small embers of sixties dropouts were still intact and thriving contrary to popular belief and were raising families while refining their hippie idealism-independent of a mass culture that had marginalized and all but forgotten them. Doubtful about how seriously this would be viewed in 1988, the footage sat untouched but not forgotten for almost 20 years. In 2006, Tomlinson took another look. What these off-grid Hippies were talking about in 1988-sustainability, living simpler, sustainable lives, love for the earth, questioning authority, self-reliance, and community responsibility-seemed to be blossoming with incredible force and coming full circle 20 years later as the impact of climate change, an unpopular war, shopping-as-patriotism and the green movement took center stage in mainstream discussion. He set out to find his original subjects again with new questions. Had their radical off-grid lifestyles and ideals survived? Had anyone gone mainstream? What about their children-how did they rebel against the rebel generation? The adventure that followed offers profound, moving insights into one of the most iconic social movements of our time-and speaks to all of us who grew up then or were affected by sixties counterculture. The non-conformist lifestyles of these aging back-to-the-landers and their now-thriving families, firmly insulated from global economic shocks, today looks ahead of its time and wiser than ever.—kevin tomlinson
- In the sixties they were satirized and vilified for rejecting materialism and corporate culture, in the seventies they stopped the war, started communes, urged back to the land and environmental sustainabilitybut by the eighties they had virtually disappeared from everyday life.
So where did all the flowers go?
In 1988, nearly twenty years after Woodstock, Seattle filmmaker Kevin Tomlinson asked himself that question while interviewing a group of back-to-the-land hippies at a backcountry healing gathering in Washington State. He found small embers of sixties dropouts were still intact and thriving contrary to popular belief and were raising families while refining their hippie idealismindependent of a mass culture that had marginalized and all but forgotten them.
Doubtful about how seriously this would be viewed in 1988, the footage sat untouched but not forgotten for almost 20 years.
In 2006, Tomlinson took another look. What these off-grid Hippies were talking about in 1988sustainability, living simpler, sustainable lives, love for the earth, questioning authority, self-reliance, and community responsibilityseemed to be blossoming with incredible force and coming full circle 20 years later as the impact of climate change, an unpopular war, shopping-as-patriotism and the green movement took center stage in mainstream discussion.
He set out to find his original subjects again with new questions. Had their radical off-grid lifestyles and ideals survived? Had anyone gone mainstream? What about their childrenhow did they rebel against the rebel generation?
The adventure that followed offers profound, moving insights into one of the most iconic social movements of our timeand speaks to all of us who grew up then or were affected by sixties counterculture. The non-conformist lifestyles of these aging back-to-the-landers and their now-thriving families, firmly insulated from global economic shocks, today looks ahead of its time and wiser than ever.
Back to the Garden Flower Power comes full circle. Heaven Scent Films | 2611-22nd Ave. West, #2 Seattle, WA 98199 | ktvc2001@aol.com www.backtothegardenfilm.com | 206.334.0385
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What is the English language plot outline for Back to the Garden, Flower Power Comes Full Circle (2009)?
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