King Corn on PBS

I dunno about them. They almost seem too sincere to be believed. And I'm not referring to the followers of Barack Obama.

I'm talking about Portland native Curt Ellis and his college pal Ian Cheney, the guys who made the movie King Corn that I wrote about when their film premiered in Portland. There they are, sitting with Diane Sawyer on ABC's Good Morning America, who's ditzing around while they sit and look at her like she's a four-headed alien. You can watch the interview here.

The big news is that King Corn is having its television premiere on the PBS show Independent Lens on April 15. In my review I wrote: "It's a film about two guys, Ellis and Cheney, who, returning to the small town in Iowa that their great-grandparents left 80 years earlier, attempt to grow an acre of corn.

"The process of growing that acre of corn and meeting the farmers and townspeople whose lives are inextricably tied to industrial corn production is at the heart of this film and provide the through-line that keeps you watching and caring about how it turns out. The narrative is interspersed with talking heads like author Michael Pollan, industry representatives and academics, but it's the stories of the people of Greene, Iowa, that give it heft."

Mark your calendars and plan to watch!

Details: King Corn television premiere on PBS. Tues., Apr. 15, 10 pm on OPB.