Our Land dares to tread where few have trespassed before, asking the timely question of who has the right to roam in the English countryside? The UK is a wild and beautiful place, but the vast majority of it is off limits to the general public, with 92% of land and 97% of all rivers in England not legally accessible. At the same time, it is a landscape shaped by centuries of inheritance and tradition, with land held and cared for by families across multiple generations.
The Garden Cinema View:
Orban Wallace’s documentary explores the history, legacy, and ongoing legal disputes over land access in England. Wallace (and most of the audience) is clearly on the right-to-roam side of the debate, but aims to provide some balance through interviews with several land owners – including the cartoonishly malevolent toff Francis Fulford. Depictions of the likes of the Kinder in Colour walk from 2022 show how access to the countryside is not just a battle for the predominantly white activists we see throughout the film, and shows how, alongside the written laws and physical fences, there are many invisible barriers to the land too.
Whilst not formally groundbreaking, Our Land provides a timely and thought-provoking overview of an issue which concerns us all.
