Short Film ‘Bodhi-Sativa’ Makes the Festival Circuit

“Bodhi-Sativa,” a short film directed by Bridget LeRoy and co-produced by Bryan Downey, who also served as the film’s cinematographer, offers a glimpse at the life of David Falkowski, owner of Open Minded Organics and a third-generation Bridgehampton farmer, who is struggling to get by, pivoting to growing cannabis.

Recently, the film has gotten some notice on the festival circuit and was announced as a semi-finalist for the New York Indie Shorts Awards and as winner for Best Short Documentary at the Venice Indie Film Fest.

“First of all, this wouldn’t have been possible without Dave Falkowski being who he is, and Bryan Downey, who was the cinematographer, co-producer, and just did such an amazing job with the editing,” noted LeRoy in an email message. “The budget for the whole thing was about $3,000, give or take. But Bryan went above and beyond ... this is a collaboration, 100 percent, between us both.”

LeRoy, who is a journalist by trade and the managing editor and co-publisher of the James Lane Post, goes on to explain that a bodhisattva is someone who could rise to Buddhahood but instead chooses to stay in the “sahā world” (humanity) to help others to salvation. The title of the film is a play on that word.

“Dave helps people with his products... or is the real ‘Bodhi-Sativa’ the man he met in one of his fields one day, who told him about CBD?” asks LeRoy. “Who knows? It was just a fun play on words.”

“Bodhi-Sativa,” which runs 12-minutes in length, has yet to be shown on the East End. LeRoy notes that the cost of renting a local venue for a screening would be more than the film itself cost to make. Still, she’s hopeful that it will find its way into a local festival at some point in the near future.

“I had no agenda with this film. This is not a career move for me,” noted LeRoy. “This was a gift to Dave Falkowski. A passion project. I think what he is doing — continuing to farm in the nation’s most expensive zip code, pivoting from the ‘mushroom man’ to the ‘CBD man’ with Open Minded Organics, teaching himself constantly about new regulations and ordinances, plus the helping-people part with plant medicines and organically raised fruits and veggies — is positively noble. And he is not getting rich doing this. This is a third-generation Bridgehampton farmer; I think he sits on about 27 committees now.

“He’s always, always blazing the way — maybe in more ways than one, LOL,” wrote LeRoy. “And people around him are getting rich off of the CBD train! He won’t compromise his quality or his principles. I love him for that. And his wife, Ashley, and daughter Abby.”