Look and See

On Thursday September 14^th I attended the Appalachian Film Festival, at the Palace Theatre. The film we watched was not at all what I was expecting to see. The film was Look and See: A Portrait by Wendell Berry. Before the film started, there was popcorn, wine, and other food on display for the viewers to take into the theater with them to enjoy while viewing the film. I noticed the majority of the crowd was older (40 and up). Everyone seemed so eager to get into the theater and grab their seats. The theater was almost completely full. I was surprised to see such a great turn out for this no name film. Before the film began, a presenter gave a brief introduction about what the film was going to be about, and let the audience know that Wendell would be available after the film to answer any questions. Look and See circles around the conflicting stories of several residents of Henry County, Kentucky. Each resident is faced with difficult choices that will dramatically reshape their relationship with the land, farming lifestyle, and their community.  The message that Wendell wanted to share with his audience was that when you get rid of tradition, you lose it. Our modern day society is becoming less traditional due to advances in technology. To him, technology completely ruined the art of farming, and played a role in the decrease in the farming lifestyle over the past 50 years. After the film concluded I got a chance to talk to some of the folks that were eager to attend this film. Christian Macoluso is a Frostburg State University student, who decided to attend this film. When I asked him why he decided to attend this film he said, “My friends forced me to come because; they had to come here to watch this film for a class”. When I asked if he enjoyed the film even though it wasn’t his first choice to come to he said “it’s definitely not something I would choose to watch on my own but it was very interesting and learned about the farming community.” After speaking with Christian I talked to another attendee named Chad Seering. I asked Chad why he decided to attend this film festival he said “I have always been interested in farming and wanted to eventually own my own farm one day, and I heard about this documentary by Wendell and wanted to get more information.” I asked him what he thought about the film and his response was “I enjoyed the film it was very informative but even learning what I did, I still want to be a farmer.” Trying to find one more person to talk to about the event was difficult. A lot of people were not willing to talk after the event. Eventually I talked to a girl named Kelsey Hamilton, who gave me great insight about the event. She told me that she has gone to the Appalachian festival 3 years in a row, but this year was her first year attending the film festival. She told me that she attended the film because her boyfriend was interested in coming, and that she liked the film, and learned about the farming lifestyle. In summary, the film Look and See was a huge success. The audience responded well to the message that Wendell shared through his documentary, and will definitely be attending next year’s festival.