Associated Press
11-07-07
Skeptical King Corn takes on corn's regal role in society
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Two Ivy League chums have learned the value of
corn after abandoning their lives in the Northeast to plant an acre of corn in
northern Iowa.
Ian Cheney and Curt Ellis are Yale graduates with a deep interest in the
American food system. They settled in tiny Greene, Iowa, with a mission to
explain how corn affects everyone in many ways.
The resulting project is "King Corn," a documentary they made along with
director Aaron Woolf. The film is a polemic of sorts, tracking Cheney and Ellis'
efforts in Greene but also casting a critical eye on the entire corn industry.
It touches on the crop's pervasiveness, the merits of its subsidies and its role in
American obesity.
The film will screen for the first time in Iowa tomorrow (Wednesday) evening at
Iowa State University in Ames. Thus far "King Corn" has collected solid
reviews while showing mostly in large cities on the coasts.
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