Derek vs Derek

James Dawson – United Kingdom, 2025 – 87 minutes – spoken language: English

In the idyllic English countryside lives an intensive dairy farmer called Derek. One day his neighbour, also called Derek, forsakes farming tradition and starts turning his land over to wild nature. How does the community react when one of its own turns his back on their way of life?

Renouncing the damage conventional farming is doing, Derek Gow unleashes a whirlwind of change: wild boar turf-up fields and over a hundred ponds are being dug up. Gow turns sheds and barns into breeding pens for a host of nearly extinct native wildlife to repopulate his revived land: storks, wildcats, mole crickets, egrets, water voles, glow worms. And he has beavers creating lagoons.

His neighbour Derek Banbury peers over his hedge in disbelief. ‘I don’t know what he’s doing. It’s not farming, it’s just a bloody mess!’ Derek vs Derek is a funny story about a serious subject. Set against the backdrop of the growing crisis of biodiversity loss and climate change, this observational film, shot over three years, charts the relationship of the two Dereks, and the impact this momentous decision has on the local community. Meanwhile tempers fray, wild animals escape, and the land is transformed.

This feature film in the Movies that Matter on Tour series will be introduced and followed by a discussion, led by Judith Westerink, researcher biodiversity and policy at WUR. Subtitles and discussion in English.
With the On Tour program, Movies that Matter organizes screenings with in-depth programmes in The Netherlands and online. They do this in collaboration with a diverse array of organizations and companies. Among other things, they also organise the annual Movies that Matter festival in The Hague.