CAN YOU DIG THIS? is director Delila Vallot’s documentary about the urban gardening movement that has taken root in South LA’s most desperate neighborhoods. Though the hood is a notorious food desert, the ways that people have revitalized their communities and themselves through urban farming and creating organic alternatives to the ‘drive throughs and drive by shootings’ is detailed in this film, which is shared with the trailer and clips. The importance of ‘growing some shit’ and the process of making the 2015 LAFF award winning film with some help from John Legend is shared in this uncensored interview on BYOD, hosted by Ondi Timoner. FILM AND GUEST INFO: A feature documentary following four “gangster gardeners” who create an oasis in one of the most notoriously dangerous neighborhoods in America. South Los Angeles. What comes to mind is gangs, drugs, liquor stores, abandoned buildings and vacant lots. The last thing that you would expect to find is a beautiful garden sprouting up through the concrete, coloring the urban landscape. As part of an urban gardening movement taking root in South LA, people are planting to transform their neighborhoods and are changing their own lives in the process. Calling for people to put down their guns and pick up their shovels, these “gangster gardeners” are creating an oasis in the middle of one of the most notoriously dangerous places in America. CAN YOU DIG THIS follows the inspirational journeys of four unlikely gardeners, discovering what happens when they put their hands in the soil. This is not a story of science and economics. This is a story of the human spirit, inspiring people everywhere to pick up their shovels and “plant some shit.” Delila Vallot is an actress, dancer, and director, born and raised in Hollywood, California. In her career, she has worked with some of the most well-known choreographers to date, including Vince Patterson, Jaime Rogers, and Debbie Allen, and has performed in such shows as CSI: Cyber, Saturday Night Live, and The Academy Awards and films including RENT, COYOTE UGLY, and THE SINGING DETECTIVE. She made her feature directorial debut in 2013 with the suspense thriller TUNNEL VISION. This will be Delila’s first feature length documentary. ADD’L LINKS: https://www.facebook.com/CanYouDigThisFilm https://twitter.com/CanUDigThisFilm http://thelip.tv/show/byod-bring-your-own-doc/ http://thelip.tv/ BYOD Full Episodes Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NIU6ccXu1M&list;=PLjk3H0GXhhGdZbrANmO6kYPy8IQC0GiN_&index;=1 BYOD Short Clips Playlist: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGsjVwJuOZ4&index;=1&list;=PLjk3H0GXhhGeu2DCf6Ouo7hTsA5QB2MAL http://www.youtube.com/theliptv EPISODE BREAKDOWN: 00:01 Welcoming Delila Vallot to BYOD. 01:17 Family and The Gangster Gardener. 05:40 The halfway house and planting. 09:00 CAN YOU DIG THIS, Clip: Gardens. 10:01 John Legend and reaching a black audience. 11:53 Finding subjects. 14:50 Other projects and early work. 16:40 When filmmakers intervene. 21:44 CAN YOU DIG THIS, Clip: Quimonie. 23:22 The painful process of documentary filmmaking. 25:13 “Plant Some Shit Day,” and ways to make a difference. 28:34 Quimonie, life after the film. 29:30 LA Film Fest responses. 30:18 Thank you and goodbye. 31:31 Video Clip: CAN YOU DIG THIS trailer.

• published: 01 Jul 2015
• views: 80