Napa filmmaker Brian Lilla happy to hit the small screen with Roundup documentary, ‘Children of the Vine’

Brian Lilla was 8 years old when he got lost in the woods near his house in North Attleborough, Massachusetts, and had to fight off a menacing 5-foot-long snake.

After he found his way home, he told his parents what happened.

Captivated, and likely in shock, they listened to every word their boy uttered. This was the pivotal moment when the grade schooler realized his calling as a storyteller.

Today, the Napa filmmaker has scored the biggest audience yet for his 2022 documentary, “Children of the Vine.”

Released March 4 on Amazon Prime Video, the film can be accessed via the television streaming service by its more than 200 million global subscribers. It can be rented for $1.99 or purchased for $4.99.

Directed by Lilla, the documentary is an investigation of the herbicide Roundup, with its main ingredient glyphosate, and its impact on public health.

The product originally was produced by Monsanto, the St. Louis-based agrochemical corporation. The company, though, was acquired in 2018 by the Bayer Corp.

Bayer has reacted to “Children of the Vine” with this comment:

“Farmers around the world rely on glyphosate-based products not only for effective weed control, but also to minimize tillage farming practices, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, preserve more land for native habitats and provide enough food to meet the needs of a growing population worldwide. These herbicides are among the most thoroughly studied products of their kind. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the other leading independent regulatory authorities around the world have repeatedly concluded that glyphosate-based products can be used safely as directed and that glyphosate is not carcinogenic.”

Lilla said he is pleased Amazon Prime Video will give his film a broader reach so he can share his research with more people.

“Anytime I finish a film, I don’t know where its home is going to be or where it’s going to be screened,” he said during a Wednesday interview. “I’m grateful so many people have reached out to me to show the film in their community. ”Children of the Vine“ has received more love and support from Sonoma County than any other place in the world.”

The documentary premiered at the Sonoma International Film Festival in 2022, kicking off an 18-month community-screening campaign. It began at Sebastopol’s Rialto Cinemas and has since spread to 15 states in the United States, as well as to South Africa.

The grassroots campaign screened the film in communities such as Vashon Island in the Puget Sound, where locals at an equestrian center detected horses with cancer. They sought to explore whether Roundup played a role.

With a career that spans two decades and 10 films, Lilla, 55, talked further about storytelling as a means to promote a culture of accountability. He delved into the power inherent in documentaries and how “listening” is the most compelling lesson he has learned in making films.

Question: What qualities of yours make you particularly well-suited to make investigative documentaries?

Answer: One quality that suits me well for investigative work is that I have no issues exposing an injustice or harm. It doesn’t bother me that making “Children of the Vine” would mean going up against massive chemical companies. … Speaking truth to power is my way of service to both humanity and the planet. One other quality that I bring to the table is that I’m always looking for solutions to the problems I address.

I’d be failing as a storyteller if I just made films that pointed out problems. I’m not an expert in any of the topics I’ve addressed through investigative documentaries. But what I bring to it is a curious mind that tracks down the experts, picks their brains apart and then weaves it back together in a story worth watching.

Q: When did you first realize the power of documentary film?

A: A life-changing moment for me was when I was 24 and saw the documentary “Hoop Dreams” by Steve James. The story (about) two African American high school basketball players in Chicago pursuing their dreams of becoming professional basketball players blew my mind. That documentary completely dropped me into their world and made me realize how powerful a medium (such as) documentary film-making can be. I look back on “Hoop Dreams” and realize now how much of a commitment James made to following these two young men for six years. Not a lot of documentary filmmakers carve out such a significant portion of their lives to follow others with a camera.

Q: What is your documentary “Patagonia Rising” about, and how did it make a positive impact on the world?

A: The feature-length documentary investigated a proposal to build five hydroelectric dams in the heart of Patagonia, Chile. The entire production was a complete adventure as we traced the river from its source on the Northern Patagonia ice cap to the ocean. Spending 12 days floating the river in a 14-foot raft totally transformed my understanding of the hydrologic cycle and what was at stake for the Patagonia wilderness.

A day after we released the film in Chile, the building of the dams was approved by the Chilean government. Our film, “Patagonia Rising,” continued to screen throughout Chile and helped galvanize the largest environmental protest in Chile’s history.

One of the most important assets of our film was that we highlighted an energy study conducted by the University of Chile that proved the building of the dams was completely unnecessary to fulfill the country’s energy needs.

Two years later, newly elected President Michelle Bachelet shut the entire dam project down. It was a huge win for Patagonia, Chile, and something I am very proud to have been a part of.

Q: What have you learned about telling stories over time?

A: The biggest lesson I learned from making compelling documentaries is to listen. Even when I’m shooting a scene or interview where I may not agree with what is happening or is being said, I remind myself to keep recording. Keep my mouth shut and let it play out. That’s my job.

Q: How does passion play into your filmmaking?

A: If there’s one consistent thread between all my films, it’s that I only dedicate myself to projects that I feel passionate about. Making documentaries is like climbing. There’s a lot of suffering that happens in order to keep moving forward. But at certain points in the process, I experience something beautiful or that makes me grow as a person. That’s why I keep making films. Every film I work on is equally exciting and challenging. The day filmmaking becomes mundane, I’m done.

You can reach wine writer Peg Melnik at 707-521-5310 or peg.melnik@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @pegmelnik.