THE PICKERS + Q&A

Across Europe’s fields—from sun-drenched groves in Italy to wind-swept vineyards in Greece—The Pickers brings us face to face with the migrant harvesters whose hands bring our fruit and veg to the table. Without contracts, safety, or fair pay, Seydou, Bahija, Kirti, and others navigate precarious lives. Through their voices, we uncover the human cost of our year-round produce: homes sacrificed, bodies worn, traditions fading. From dawn pickups to moonlit harvests, the film moves with a rhythm, each row of produce carrying stories often left unseen. But alongside this hardship, activists like Pape in southern Italy breathe hope into fields, pioneering ethical farms and the FAIR PICK campaign: a call for justice, dignity, and sustainable bounty. With perceptive observation, The Pickers unearths the human cost beneath every supermarket aisle and invites us to imagine a food system where care, not cost, defines our harvest. Director: Elke Sasse | Country: Germany | Year: 2024 | Running Time: 80 min | Language: English, and Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Arabic, Bambara, and Urdu with English subtitles | Rating: 12A | Content guidance: contains reference to sexual harassment With short film: HEADLAND A nature reserve on the English Channel is a place of wonder and solace, shaped and haunted by violence. Headland is an intimate look at life on a pebble beach reclaimed from the ocean, interweaving the tradition of sea rescues with recent Channel crossings, as witnessed by the last of the Dungeness fishermen. Followed by live Q&A with Meet The Pickers campaign producer Ben Kempas and migrant workers researcher Catriona Fraser. Director: Mariana Duarte | Country: UK | Year: 2024 | Running Time: 15 min | Language: English | Rating: 12A This programme is part of the Montrose LandxSea Film Festival, a weekend filled with inspiring films and thought-provoking discussions about our planet. Learn more at landxsea.orgPT2H10MTBC - 12A2025-09-13
Live Q&A with director Mariana Duarte.
Elke Sasse & Mariana Duarte
THE PICKERS + Q&A"THE PICKERS + Q&A"

Showtimes

September 13, 2:00 pm

Montrose Playhouse