The 2022 Westport Film Series was the tenth year of the screenings. Sponsored by Westport Cultural Council through a grant from the Helen E. Ellis Charitable Trust, the films are free to the public as part of the Trust’s mission to enhance the arts, learning, and community in Westport. A hallmark of the series are lively and informative question and answer sessions with one of the filmmakers, film participants, or subject matter experts after each film.
This year the series was hosted by Weatherlow Farms, located at 845 Sodom Rd in Westport. The barn’s doors opened at 6 pm for an hour of socializing and the opportunity to enjoy the sunset and beautiful pastoral views.
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2022’s Summer Documentary Series Films were:
JULY 20
THE EARTH IS AS BLUE AS AN ORANGE (2020) – 74 MIN Directed by Iryna Tsilyk
“An intimate and surprisingly playful family’s eye-view of life in the Ukrainian Warzone”
Krasnohorivka: a town on the front lines of the war-torn region of Eastern Ukraine. When poet/filmmaker Iryna Tsilyk first visits the Trofymchuk-Gladky family home, she is surprised by what she finds: while the outside world is made up of bombings and chaos, single mother Anna and her four children are managing to keep their home as a safe haven, full of life and full of light. Every member of the family has a passion for cinema, so it feels natural for them to shoot a film inspired by their own life during a time of war. The creative process raises the question of what kind of impact cinema might have during times of disaster, and how to picture war through the camera’s lens. For Anna and the children, transforming trauma into a work of art is the ultimate way to stay human.
Winner of the Directing Award for World Cinema Documentary at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, and numerous other awards from juried festivals across the US and Europe, THE EARTH IS AS BLUE AS AN ORANGE stands not only as a remarkable document of the Russo-Ukrainian War through the lens – literally – of this family’s creative process, but as an optimistic testament to the power of art and beauty in the face of destruction.
Trailer: https://www.filmmovement.com/the-earth-is-blue-as-an-orange
Donations will be accepted for the St. Michael’s Humanitarian Fund for Ukraine.
Speaker: Vsevolod Petriv, President, Ukrainian Congress Committee of the US / Boston
The Ukrainian Congress Committee of America (UCCA) is a non-profit, non-partisan community-based organization that has represented the interests of Ukrainians in the United States since 1940. With a National Office in New York City, a bureau in Washington, D.C. and dozens of local grassroots chapters throughout the United States, UCCA’s staff and a nationwide network of volunteers advocate in the name of over 1.5 million Americans of Ukrainian descent.
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AUG 3
SEED: THE UNTOLD STORY (2016) – 94 MIN Directed by Taggart Seigel & Jon Betz
Few things on Earth are as miraculous and vital as seeds.
Worshipped and treasured since the dawn of humankind. In the last century, 94% of our seed varieties have disappeared. SEED: The Untold Story follows passionate seed keepers protecting our 12,000 year-old food legacy. As biotech chemical companies control the majority of our seeds, farmers, scientists, lawyers, and indigenous seed keepers fight a David and Goliath battle to defend the future of our food. In a harrowing and heartening story, these heroes rekindle a lost connection to our most treasured resource and revive a culture connected to seeds. SEED features Vandana Shiva, Dr. Jane Goodall, Andrew Kimbrell, Winona Laduke and Raj Patel.
SEED is Executive Produced by Academy Award Winning Actress Marisa Tomei, Marc Turtletaub (Little Miss Sunshine) and Phil Fairclough (Grizzly Man, Cave of Forgotten Dreams).
Trailer: https://www.seedthemovie.com/
Speaker: Bill Braun, Executive Director, Freed Seed Federation
Bill started farming at Ivory Silo Farm in Westport with a vision of creating a sustainable farm system using low input, ecological methods to produce delicious, high-quality produce. He brought with him the knowledge of farming specialty crops and herbs for restaurant sales and his personal passion for seed saving, regional variety development, and seed sovereignty, all of which remain at the forefront of his mission to farm with a constant eye to biodiversity and understanding that the food web extends well beyond the plant and person.
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AUG 17
WOOD, SAILS, DREAMS (2012) – 58 MIN Directed by John Stanton
The film honors a craft that nearly vanished and takes audiences in search of the soul of wooden sailboats. A fantastic visual journey for all who love wind and sea .. or just simply great photography.
The act of building and sailing boats made out of trees and powered by the wind is a small moment of grace in the face of a digitally enhanced world and throwaway culture. But forty years ago the rise of fiberglass boats nearly pushed wooden sailboats, and the trade of building them, to the brink of extinction. Wood/Sails/Dreams explores the resurgence of wooden boats, the restoration of American maritime history, and the to be lessons learned from the ancient craft of traditional boat building.
Narrated by Wooden Boat Magazine founder and publisher Jon Wilson, the film takes audiences from the rag tag regattas of the 1970s to today’s wooden boat world, from Nantucket to Vineyard Haven, Bristol and Newport, RI, to the rocky coast of Maine.
Trailer: https://www.woodenboat.com/woodsailsdreams-documentary-film-honors-wooden-boats
Or: https://vimeo.com/41387890
Speakers: Warren Barker and Bill Womack
Warren Barker, Senior Instructor, IRYS School of Technology & Trades
Warren remarked to a friend at Williams College that after graduation he was going home to build a boat with his father. Little did he know that over forty years later he would still be building boats. Returning to the Berkshires, he attended a furniture design and woodworking school. Determined that the furniture float, Warren took those skills to Maine to build the 42’ ketch Nia, to Rhode Island to build cold molded and composite sail and power boats, and to his home in Massachusetts to build custom boats under his own shingle. Having taught at IYRS since 2003, Warren has overseen the building by his students of a myriad of boats by multiple designers-instilling in this new generation of boatbuilders the skill and enthusiasm for the trade that have carried him through his career.
Bill Womack, Owner, Beetlecat Boats
Growing up with Beetle Cats in the 1950s out on Onset Harbor, and a life-long love of traditional wooden sailing craft, made the opportunity to own and work with these timeless, classic boats perfect for Bill Womack. In addition to childhood experiences and personal interests, Bill also served in the United States Navy with Seabee Team 1110/1114 in South Vietnam from 1966 to 1970. A degree in Civil Engineering and over 40 years working in heavy highway construction help to prepare him for the important task of preserving the art of traditional Plank-On-Frame wood boat construction at the Beetle Boat Shop.
