BEHIND-THE-SCENES

Organic Network serves as an epilogue to two previous MSU documentaries: Kings of Flint and Flint River Farm.

Kings of Flint is a 2011 documentary film that followed Jacky and Dora King, a Flint couple who opened a karate dojo, Kings Karate, that has students utilize skills in urban farming in addition to karate.

Flint River Farm, the 2012 sister film to Kings of Flint, followed Roxanne Adair and Joanna Lehrman’s struggle to operate their urban farm in Flint.

Organic Network follows Flint in summer 2024, now in recovery from the water crisis and COVID-19 Pandemic, and the state of urban farming and food sovereignty within the city.

The film consisted of four shoots - three in Flint, one in East Lansing, over the course of June and July. Sources consisted of Jason Bey, urban beekeeper, Dora King, co-founder of Kings Karate, Richard Sadler, public health doctor in Flint, urban farmers in Flint, and Flint community members.

The trick to creating a documentary is that the final product may not turn out exactly as you originally pictured; it all comes down to how you utilize the footage you obtained. Our editors crafted a story of the current struggles of Flint, focusing primarily on urban beekeeper Jason Bey and karate teacher Grandmaster Dora King.

All video editing was done in Adobe Premiere Pro, and final audio mixing took place in Adobe Audition.

Organic Network debuted in the MSU Broad Art Museum on the opening night of their exhibit Farmland: Food, Justice, and Sovereignty. The film was viewable in the museum until the exhibit closed at the end of July 2025.

The film was also screened at the Flint Youth Film Festival 2025, receiving the following awards: Winner - Nonfiction Ages 22-25, Craft - Directing, Craft - Cinematography.

In 2026, the film was shown at Capital City Film Festival as part of the Exploring Joy as Resistance and Our Natural Connections shorts block. Producer Rachel Kozlowski and Director Elena Sheperd also participated in the Q+A following the screening.
The film will also be showing at Fresh Coast Film Festival in Marquette, Michigan Oct 15-18 2026 during the Plant Life film block. This block will be shown at 12:00pm on Fri, Oct 16 at the Women's Federated Clubhouse, and 2:00pm on Sun, Oct 18 at Bluff Street Station.

The documentary crew is currently discussing plans for additional screenings of the film. Check back here or on our Media Coverage page for updates.