Fairhill: A Story of Land-Based Resistance

Aim

Fairhill is a feature documentary about loss, resistance, and rebirth in the face of the forces that threaten land-based communities.

The Why:

We’ve been following this story for 3 years - from the last days of the commune at Monkton Wyld Court, through the conflict that eventually led to its demise, the resulting fallout, and the new project at Fairhill Farm that seeks to rebuild what was lost. We know this story is essential, urgent, and transformative for the specific climate and cultural challenges that our world faces. Now more than ever, we all need to learn how to live together, with each other and with the land. 

Unfortunately, land-based projects, small farm holdings, and community living are increasingly under threat. We believe it's imperative that the lessons learned from the end of the Monkton Wyld community as well as the new Fairhill Farm project be documented and shared widely, to show the world what is possible when an undaunted few choose to live differently.

The Story: 

On an empty piece of farmland in Dartmoor, an abandoned quarry sits among windswept hills and tangled forests. To most, it’s a worthless piece of land, but to Simon, Jasmine, and Jon, it’s everything. Refugees from a torn-apart eco-commune, they’ve found themselves putting all they have - every last saving, belonging, and hope - into this place, Fairhill Farm, embarking on a journey to establish a new low-impact farming community.  One day, they’ll have a flourishing organic vegetable garden and dairy farm, homes to live in, and land-based income to live from. Right now, they have four cows, two tents, and a massive undertaking ahead.

The Process:

We started filming in 2023, when Simon, Jon, and Jasmine still lived as part of the community at Monkton Wyld Court in Bridport. We documented life there when it was still flourishing, the conflict between residents and Trustees, the community’s eventual eviction, and the move to a new empty piece of farmland in Dartmoor. Over the past three years, we've been lucky enough to have an inside perspective into the challenges and hopes of living sustainably with the land. We have over 200 hours of footage, including tracking the early days of Fairhill Farm, from moving onto the land to building a barn and celebrating its barn-warming. We're ready to start editing the documentary so it can be shared with audiences. 

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The Team:

Anson Hartford is a producer/director whose credits include the non-fiction feature films Maya (BFI & ZDF/Arte), Ping Pong (Film4) and Beads On One String (Netflix). He’s had films released theatrically worldwide and screened documentaries in competition at Rotterdam, Hotdocs, Palm Springs, Zanzibar, DocPoint, CPH Dox, DocFest. Anson has worked with broadcasters around the world including Al Jazeera, Arte, BBC, PBS, NRK, NBC, TVO, NHK, Yle, Svt, Channel 4 and with brands including The North Face, HSBC, Facebook and Sky.

Solveig Herzum is a documentary and fiction director and producer from Chicago, USA and Genoa, Italy. She is a graduate of the National Film and Television School’s MA in Directing Documentary and has several short film credits including: Wyld (Doc, 2024), The Picnic (Fiction, in post-production), Morning After (Fiction, in post-production), The Firefighter’s Daughter (Doc, 2023), Expecting Troscio (Doc, 2022). She has a background in participatory and devised creative processes, workshop facilitation, and advocacy and has worked with BFI, Into Film, Create, Park Circus, and Garden Studios. This is her first feature film.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made by 8th October 2026 at 5:00pm