The Man Who Tried to Feed the World

The Man Who Tried to Feed the World traces Norman Borlaug from his early training as a plant breeder to the breakthroughs that sparked the Green Revolution. The film shows how his work on high yielding wheat varieties and improved farming practices helped avert famine in India and inspired a worldwide effort to boost food production. It depicts the scale of the agricultural changes that followed, touching on the lives of farmers, policymakers, and scientists who raced to adopt new seeds and methods. While Borlaug receives a Nobel Prize and lasting praise for saving lives, the documentary also presents the mounting critique of industrial farming and its long term costs. It also frames Borlaug within 20th century debates about aid.

Rob Rapley directs this 2020 documentary, which presents Borlaug's story through archival footage, interviews, and narration by Michael Murphy, supplemented by contemporary commentary from scholars and policymakers. The film offers a concise portrait of the man behind the Green Revolution.

The documentary centers on a core tension between humanitarian relief and the ecological and social costs of large scale farming. It probes how Borlaug's successes fed millions while critics warn of monoculture, chemical reliance, and uneven benefits across regions. It also asks viewers to weigh favors against costs for smallholders.

Box office figures for this documentary are not publicly documented, and it appears to have had a limited release worldwide, likely reflecting a niche audience and academic interest rather than mass commercial reach, with screenings in select venues and festivals.

There are no widely reported awards or nominations for the film and it does not appear in major awards databases as a contender. The documentary stands as a straightforward biographical examination rather than an awards oriented project, focusing on ideas and history over ceremony for students and policy makers alike.