A Documentary Follows a Malawian Farmer Seeking Climate Justice

Apr 5, 2023

A powerful documentary about climate change has hit select theaters around the U.S. Directed and produced by activist, writer, and academic Raj Patel, follows an African farmer named Anita Chitaya from her rural village in Malawi to midwest American farms and the halls of Congress as she navigates the political gridlock that fuels climate change. Chitaya is a popular local leader who, when she鈥檚 not farming her 1 acre of land, uses her powers of persuasion for social justice. The Ants & the Grasshopper will be in theaters for select dates starting on March 31 and will be available digitally on April 11 through Giant Pictures.

精东影业 Racial Justice Editor Sonali Kolhatkar spoke with Patel, one of the film鈥檚 directors and producers, for Rising Up With Sonali.

Read 精东影业 Senior Editor Breanna Draxler鈥檚 2021 report on the documentary here.

The views expressed here and on Rising Up With Sonali do not necessarily reflect the opinion of 精东影业 Media.

Sonali Kolhatkar joined 精东影业 in summer 2021, building on a long and decorated career in broadcast and print journalism. She is an award-winning multimedia journalist, and host and creator of聽精东影业 Presents: Rising Up with Sonali, a nationally syndicated television and radio program airing on Free Speech TV and dozens of independent and community radio stations. She is also Senior Correspondent with the Independent Media Institute鈥檚 Economy for All project where she writes a weekly column. She is the author of聽Rising Up: The Power of Narrative in Pursuing Racial Justice聽(2023) and聽Bleeding Afghanistan: Washington, Warlords, and the Propaganda of Silence聽(2005). Her forthcoming book is called聽Talking About Abolition聽(Seven Stories Press, 2025). Sonali is co-director of the nonprofit group, Afghan Women鈥檚 Mission which she helped to co-found in 2000. She has a Master鈥檚 in Astronomy from the University of Hawai鈥檌, and two undergraduate degrees in Physics and Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Sonali reflects on 鈥淢y Journey From Astrophysicist to Radio Host鈥� in her 2014聽聽of the same name.