Last night, my wife and I traipsed to Georgetown University to catch, for the second time, a festival screening of the riveting documentary The Grab (2022). The film, directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite (Blackfish) and starring (and executive produced by) Nate Halverson, illuminates the geopolitical dimensions surrounding food, water, and land acquisitions.

Way back in 2016, when I was still a sitting intelligence officer at the National Intelligence Council, I sat down with Gabriela, Nate, and the documentary team for an interview on food and water security (and what trends we in the intelligence community were seeing). After I left government in 2019, I again sat down with the team. Some of that footage is included, including the film’s opening scene (which is, euphemistically speaking, a humanizing portrayal).

The film is getting tremendous reviews, and you can find a long list of links at The Grab website. This quote from Variety’s Peter Debruge is enlightening:

There’s so much at stake in this arena that one half expects these journalist heroes to be silenced along the way. For that reason, “The Grab” unspools like a thriller in one sense and a dystopian science fiction movie in another. The entire situation might be incredibly depressing were it not for a few heroes Halverson identifies along the way, like Brigadier Siachitema, or “Brig,” a Zambian human rights lawyer who takes the case of those displaced by companies like FRG. Accountability is the first step, and to that end, “The Grab” doesn’t entirely let its audience off the hook. We are what we eat, after all, and the more responsibly sourced our food, the better we can all feel about ourselves.

I encourage everyone to see The Grab, either in festivals or when it inevitably lands on a streaming service near you. And have a hearty laugh at my expense as the film fades in on my sweaty July-soaked face in the opening scene!