The 2012 candidates for the Republican Presidential nomination — in other words the people who vied to be the standard bearer for those responsible for the government shutdown spurred by opposition to the Affordable Care Act — were photogenic, prone to gaffes: a documentarian’s wet dream of a cast. The GOP primaries offered us ambitious charlatans and lunatics eager to put themselves of display, finding room after room of deluded or poorly informed or simply mean-spirited white people to entertain and cajole. The entire primary season, while not as entertaining as it could have been (how can people with such depressing […]
by Brandon Harris on Nov 8, 2013Christened Megunticook (“great swells of the sea”) by the long eradicated Penobscot Abenaki native American tribe that first lived in the region before it took turns being in the hands of the French and British during colonial times, the town of Camden, Maine is these days primarily a summering community for the northeast’s wealthy; its tiny population of just over 4,000 triples in size between Memorial and Labor Days. No wonder — the natural beauty of the place is quite stunning. It’s rolling hills and mountains, those great swells of the sea the PA’s were referring to, are covered in […]
by Brandon Harris on Oct 4, 2013Though We Always Lie to Strangers — his excellent, SXSW award-winning portrait of the music town of Branson, Missouri co-directed with David Wilson — only hit the fest circuit a few months ago, AJ Schnack already has another film playing the circuit. Caucus, which world premiered at HotDocs just over a month ago, depicts a full field of Republican hopefuls jockeying for early position in the 2012 presidential race as they descend on Iowa, aiming for supremacy in the bellwether state’s inaugural primary. The film doesn’t have distribution as yet, but look out for it at a film festival near you.
by Nick Dawson on Jun 4, 2013