The table is set for an Iowa film premiere
...from Buffalo Center to an award-winning film
Jerry Risius was walking backward on streets unknown in Monrovia, Liberia, pointing a camera aimed at globe-trotting chef Anthony Bourdain. The cinematographer from Buffalo Center, IA, heard a voice call out, "Hey, Jerry!"
Surprised by hearing the sound of an old pal, it was one of those moments when the field director for Bourdain understood the small world we inhabit.
As a freelance director of photography, Risius' work primarily records stories about other people’s lives. The documentary 'Storm Lake' is what he calls his first farm-to-table production. The germ of the idea came to him in 2017 when he read in the New York Times that the Storm Lake Times, a newspaper in northwest Iowa, won a Pulitzer Prize.
"My eyes popped out of my head," said Risius. "You never see a paper in a small, northern Iowa town win a Pulitzer!"
Shortly after that, Risius was headed to Buffalo Center to see his folks, Luverne and Arlene Risius. He hasn’t lived in Buffalo Center since he left in the 1980s to attend college. But it will always be home.
Risius studied anthropology at the University of Iowa. After graduation, he entered the Peace Corps in 1985, pulled in by its promise as 'the toughest job you'll ever love' campaign. He saw the ocean for the first time when he flew to his assignment in South America, where he lived for three years.
"The whole world opened up," said Risius.
In 2017, as he made plans to visit his folks, he called Art Cullen, whose family owns the Storm Lake Times, to ask if he could spend an afternoon at the newspaper. He said he'd like to shoot some footage and pitch the story idea as a possible documentary.
On that day, he filmed the Pulitzer-winning newspaperman taking a bundle of his papers to a local cafe, where he also picked up seven dollar bills left in an 'honor cup' from those who paid for single copies of the Storm Lake Times.
And that's the stuff of the film. The day-to-day life of a journalist and his family trying to stay in business while market forces create a Derecho-force headwind.
Risius himself learned about market forces as a young farm boy who made $14,000 one year on hogs and lost $15,000 the next. The work he did was identical, but the forces beyond his control caused him to lose money. It's that depth of understanding Risius brings to the project that gives his documentary authenticity.
The gestation has been about four years. The footage snagged in that first trip to Storm Lake was enough to put together a 'character reel' that got him in the door to potential project funders. Although well-received, they needed to know who was on the cinemaphotographer's team.
That's where co-director Levison came in. They were colleagues teaching at the School of Visual Arts in New York. Since her job was to teach 'pitching, treatment writing, budgeting, scheduling, fundraising, licensing, field producing, post prep, and all the hard and soft skills about producing films,' she would be a match for the job.
At first, the Emmy and Peabody-winning independent producer didn't bite on the project. Then, in July of 2018, Levison read a column by Cullen that appeared in the New York Times titled 'In My Town, We Need Immigrants.' The Storm Lake editor wrote about what immigrants bring to rural communities as an antidote when the U.S. government kept the children of asylum seekers in cages.
The column, written by Iowa journalist Cullen, was a man-bites-dog moment. It contradicted the myth that all who live in predominantly white rural America hate people who don't look like them. Levison was captivated.
And so are those who watch 'Storm Lake.'
Iowans will get to see the documentary in September and on public television's ‘Independent Lens’ in November. The Iowa premiere will be in Storm Lake in mid-September followed by a showing at the Pearson Lakes Art Center in Okoboji on September 20 to benefit the Western Iowa Journalism Foundation. To date, the film has had limited availability through a small number of online film festivals. One sold out the 'Storm Lake' documentary. On June 28, the prestigious American Film Institute DOCS festival named 'Storm Lake,' directed by Jerry Risius and Beth Levison, as the festival's Audience Award for Best Feature.
For Risius' farm-to-table film, the harvest looks good. Accolades for the film appeared June 28 in the Hollywood Reporter.
‘Storm Lake’ is a story of a small town, a small newspaper, in a small world.
There will be a private showing at the Pearson Lakes Art Center to benefit the Western Iowa Journalism Foundation.
To sign up for information about the film release dates: https://brown.us7.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=9a9431313629741becca1546e&id=a02babe1b5
To watch the digital screening at Woods Hole Film Festival July 31-August: https://www.goelevent.com/WoodsHoleFilmFest/e/StormLake
More about Jerry Risius: https://www.jrisius.com
Cullen NYTIMES column: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/30/opinion/trump-immigrants-iowa-farmers-workers.html
Thank you, Julie.
I'd like to be able to see the film. Such rare accomplishments reaffirm my faith in an industry that has experienced devastating cutbacks.