Right now, there is a battle going on for who controls the system of growing and distributing our food. – the many, or the few.

The few come in the guise of large agribusiness corporations and their government backers, whose vision is for a world of industrialised, intensive #farming, that relies on the use of GMO seeds, fossil-fuel based pesticides and fertilisers, and centrally controlled global supply-chains. Their claim is that only they can feed the world.

The alternative vision, that we at The Rules support, is that the people who are already supplying at least 70% the world’s food – the smallholder #farmers – be supported in the way that, right now, only corporations are supported, with investment and subsidies.

They naturally work in harmony with nature and offer a solution to climate change, rather than trying to dominate it and thereby drive climate change. They represent a diverse base of power, rather than hierarchies of centralised control; and their ability to feed the world is well-proven.

So when Chintan and Jason from the Source Project shared their work with us, we saw all that we believe in captured beautifully in their #short films about food and farming.

The Source Project is about using media to engage people in some of the many issues we need to embrace. Story telling from people who are driven by nothing more than a compassion moves us away from the traditional confrontational format, which does little more than foster an overwhelming sense of helplessness.

The Rules is all for spreading radical ideas into a mainstream. Especially when they come from a community of people seeking to look beyond the surface to bring about deep-rooted change.

So we are proud to present nine short films by the Source Project as the 9×9 online film festival. Common Dreams, Occupy, TruthOut, Gaia Foundation, Other98%, Share The World’s Resources, and Global Justice Now have also joined this initiative.

Films featured in the #9×9 film festival are about communities and farmers who are working with nature to produce food. They are a testimony to the fact that chemical intensive farming and questionable technologies like genetic modification harm more than they nurture.

These films are important because they tell us a refreshingly positive story about our food and farming. There who are defying the lure of agribusinesses to do what they know is right. They tell us that all is not lost.

You’ll rarely hear these stories in the day-to-day mainstream media. That’s why it’s so important for all of us to be telling and re-telling these stories of hope.

9×9 is an online film festival. You don’t need to book tickets or drive to a cinema screen to be a part of this film festival. These films can be watched from anywhere in the world. They’ll be on Facebook, Vimeo, Youtube and /The Rules’ website free for you to watch and share.

There’s no way you can miss these beautiful films. RSVP now: https://www.facebook.com/events/924322407613365/