Documentary Educational Resources - Filmmaker / Bustin, Dillon / All Films

The Pearl Fisher

Tue, 28 Aug 2018 10:58:00 GMT

The freshwater pearl industry once flourished along Indiana's inland waterways. The Wabash, flowing south from Lafayette to join the Ohio at Mt. Vernon, bustled with the shallow boats of such fishermen, with about 600 operating around Vincennes alone.

This film documents Barnett Bass as he fishes for fresh-water mollusks in the White River in southern Indiana, seeking gem-quality pearls and the mother-of-pearl lining of the shells. The film depicts the local jewelers, a pearl dealer, and a shell exporter. The Pearl Fisher explores issues of technological innovation, international trade, and resulting stresses on the environment. It suggests the traditional symbolic meanings of pearls: immortality, purity, virtue, and trust, as well as the role of romanticism in everyday life.

The use of incidental music from Georges Bizet's 1863 opera Les Pechers de Perls enhances the film's most compelling images: the fisherman on the river, a ballet of water spiders, the maneuvering of burdened poles from the quiet water.

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Tough, Pretty or Smart

Mon, 27 Aug 2018 08:57:00 GMT

Tough, Pretty or Smart
Buy Now: $295.00

Tough, Pretty or Smart portrays The Patoka Valley Boys, a six-person string band comprising one of America's finest old-time and bluegrass musical groups. Through their own words, the "Boys" proclaim their love for their music.

"A rural region in Indiana whose wooded hills stand in striking contrast to huge strip-mined pits, the Patoka Valley is more than home to the members of this old-time string band; it is both an inspiration for songs and a foundation of the values tethered to the past with which the men, separated in age over nearly three generations, face an uncertain future.

Seen in private moments - hunting in a nearby wood, motorcycling through the autumn-draped countryside, enjoying a family picnic, and tending to domestic chores - as well as at coal mining jobs where they help destroy the land they love, the men individually comment on why they perform the old-fashioned tunes for guitar, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, and harmonica... Public libraries are sure to have a toe-tapping screening when this bright production is included."
—American Library Association BOOKLIST

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SELECTED SCREENINGS & AWARDS

Best Documentary Film, Cork International Film Festival, Ireland, 1981

Nominee, The Academy Awards, 1981

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Water from Another Time

Fri, 24 Aug 2018 12:26:00 GMT

Water from Another Time
Buy Now: $320.00

Water from Another Time is a documentary capturing the flavor of a lifestyle many of us have either forgotten or never known at all. The filmmakers visit three elderly residents of Orange County, Indiana, talk with them, enjoy their artistic creations, and learn something about the dignity and meaning of aging.

Lotus Dickey, 70, who raised eight children by himself, sits under a catalpa tree by his parents' farmhouse, playing his violin and singing songs he wrote. Elmer Boyd, 80, a shy bachelor, shows an ingenious water carrying system he built for his aging parents in 1943. Artist and poet Lois Doane, 87, shows her albums and sketchbook and reads some of her work. It was from one of Lois Doane's poems that the title of the film was derived.

"A very warm, appealing film that draws meaning from both the old and young generations depicted. Fine personalized narration. An intelligent, superior film. Shows a reverence for aging. A dignified tribute." -- EFLA Evaluations

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