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PMA Films: "Hard Tellin'...": Dead River Rough Cut (1976) (with Filmmaker Stu Silverstein)

  • Portland Museum of Art 7 Congress Square Portland, ME, 04101 United States (map)

SCREENING IN THE BERNARD OSHER FOUNDATION AUDITORIUM


The film has become a bit of a Maine cult classic, though it’s been little-seen outside the state. It’s a vital document of a way of life that’s now all but disappeared.
— Emily Burnham, Bangor Daily News

67 minutes (followed by Q&A). Not Rated. Directed by Stu Silverstein and Richard Searls. In English.

Note: Inspired by the upcoming exhibit “As We Are,” Hard Tellin’… is a series of films that capture something distinctive about Maine. This series was co-programmed with local filmmaker Wes Sterrs. See below for additional screenings in this series.

Bob Wagg and Walter Lane live in a tarpaper shack, hunting, fishing, trapping and logging with oxen. They prefer the sounds of the birds to the roar of highway traffic, and scorn the money-chasing of city life. Covering a period of four seasons in the remote backwoods of Maine, Dead River Rough Cut presents a revealing look at an individual way of life. Wagg and Lane earn a living and accept their isolation for the independence it allows them. But not everyone would want to draw water from a hole in the ice. They share their reflections about women, politics, taxes, the lone life and death.

Official Website

ADDITIONAL SCREENINGS in this series:


 
Earlier Event: November 2
PMA Films: Hangdog
Later Event: November 3
PMA Films: Hangdog