The protagonists of this likable film are the inhabitants of a small Greek village– a total of 33 people– mostly elderly women, as the young people have all left for the cities. The team is led by two middle-aged men, Christos and Aleco, as they work on an organic farm and make tomato and honey products by hand, which they then export around the world.

Marianna Economou’s documentary tells the story of this near-deserted Greek village that is rescued by organic tomatoes— and classical music.

The Greek Film Center, representing the nation of Greece to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, has officially entered Marianna Economou’s tale of a dying Greek village rescued from oblivion by an eccentric business idea. When Tomatoes Met Wagner will be Greece’s official entry for best international feature category in the 92nd Academy Awards.

The story of the remote village of Elias, where economic crisis and the loss of its young people seems to spell the end of an ancient way of life, When Tomatoes Met Wagner has been billed as a marvelous tonic for contemporary global despair.

When farmer Christos decides to do something about a village with only 33 inhabitants, no shops, no school or even a priest, his idea turns the place around. Turning his land over to the cultivation of organic tomatoes — and blasting them with Wagner through loudspeakers — may sound like an odd way out for a village of mostly elderly peasant farmers. But soon the organic tomatoes, pasteurized and processed locally, are finding their way into health food shops the world over and turning around the fortunes of the village.

Greece has submitted films to the Academy Awards since the 1950s and been nominated five times, most recently for Yorgos Lanthimos’ Dogtooth, but has never won an Oscar in this category.

The 92nd Academy Awards take place on February 9, 2020.

See the trailer