BELLOWS FALLS-As the Bellows Falls Opera House celebrates its 100-year anniversary in 2025, organizers say the time is right to recapture the story of Vermont and its citizens with the 2013 Off the Grid Productions' collaborative documentary series, Freedom & Unity: The Vermont Movie.
Off the Grid Productions was founded by Nora Jacobson, an award-winning independent filmmaker who writes and directs narrative films as well as documentaries. In 2013, she and Executive Producer Nat Winthrop released her ambitious, six-part documentary series to tell the story, past and present, of Vermont.
Twelve years later, "this epic journey serves as an extraordinary benchmark about the culture and history of the individualistic state of Vermont as the country moves into a volatile and uncertain political landscape in 2025," organizers said in a news release.
Jacobson says she is pleased to provide audiences with another opportunity to view her documentary. "My dream has always been that we would do a sequel. Maybe now is the time with all the new filmmakers in Vermont! Join us at the Opera House to share your ideas of what a Vermont Movie sequel would look like 15 years later!"
The six-part series will be screened as a mini-festival at the Opera House. Two parts will be screened with 15-minute discussion sessions to follow on each of three consecutive Sundays: Jan. 26, and Feb. 2 and 9, from 2–5:30 p.m..
More than 40 directors, cinematographers, filmakers, and historians were involved in the original series, among them Dorothy Tod, Jay Craven, Robin Lloyd, Jesse Larocque, Alan Dater, Lisa Merton, Andy Reichman, George Woodard, Dan Butler, and Richard Waterhouse.
Visit bellowsfallsoperahouse.com to find details about all six films. Tickets available through the Bellows Falls Opera House website or cash/credit at the door. For more information, go to offthegridproductions.com.
This Arts item was submitted to The Commons.