As his generational dairy farm financially collapses around him, farmer Buck, played by Craig T. Nelson — known for his roles on the TV show “Coach” and “The Incredibles” movies — desperately clings to tradition.

Every morning with the sunrise, Buck climbs out of bed and warms up his muscles with a light workout routine appropriate for an octogenarian. He puts on a tired Green Bay Packers cap and gets to work on the farm.

Buck’s land is at imminent risk of foreclosure, but the tradition-bound man still “farms like it’s the 1800s.”

Packers' Fans Gather in Green and God.

“Green and Gold” director Anders Lindwell and his producer and brother, Davin Lindwell, are “aware of the struggle of what farmers go through.” Their own grandfather was a dairy farmer, and inspired the movie, Anders Lindwell said.

“For anybody who spends time around (farmers), you know, it’s such hard work,” Anders Lindwell said. “The margins can be really slim ... The loss of small farms across America is a really interesting subject matter that we felt like wasn’t really shown in cinema, and especially like the soul of farmers and what they represented.”

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The independent movie’s wholesome message is what attracted Nelson.

While brainstorming actors to cast as Buck, Nelson’s name was thrown into the mix. The Lindwell brothers knew it was a big name for an indie project, but sent the script to Nelson anyway.

Madison Lawlor as Jenny #1 in Green and Gold.

“There’s something in this story,” Anders Lindwell recalled Nelson saying after reading the script. “He said, ‘I’m 80 years old. I don’t need to do projects to make money, but there’s something in this that I believe in.‘“

He continued, “So he attached, on a real heart level, to the the full tone of the narrative ... He came on board and came on in a big way.”

Nelson helped foot an out-of-budget bill for a second camera rental and provided humble support throughout the process. His involvement in the movie was a testament to the filmmakers' faith in the the project.

“So much of filmmaking at an independent level is out of your control,” Davin Lindwell said. “At a certain point you just have to surrender to that and be like, you know, God will hopefully open the right door for us here, because we don’t have an answer, or, we can’t make this happen ourselves.”

Buck employs a similar faith on screen. He holds firmly to a belief that one day his granddaughter, Jenny (Madison Lawler), will see the same value in the farm that he sees.

Brandon Sklenar as Billy in Green and Gold.
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Jenny has different plans. But Buck stubbornly adheres to tradition, with a quiet faith that he is making the right moves.

“(Buck) is longing for his granddaughter, to notice (the farm), to know the value of it,” Anders Lindell said. “We’re all looking for signs of affirmation, like you’re on the right path. You’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing.”

In a last-ditch effort to preserve for his posterity what generations before him built, Buck takes a leap of faith and bets the dairy farm on the narrow chance The Green Bay Packers make it to the Super Bowl.

“I hope people walk away with just a sense of...like there is so much goodness in the world and despite the hard things that go on in our lives, there is a glimmer of hope, we don’t know when the story is over,” Anders Lindwell said. “(I hope audiences) walk away with that sense of goodness, truth and beauty.”

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Watch: Trailer for ‘Green and Gold’

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