Iowa
Taking an Abstract Idea and Creating a Narrative
How the filmmakers behind "King Corn" crafted a compelling documentary about an inanimate subject matter
December 10th, 2007 | Erica Bernstein
How do you make a compelling and funny narrative out of a subject as seemingly banal as food? As Erica Bernstein reports, documentarian Aaron Woolf's solution was to give two young friends $5,000, send them to Iowa, and tell them not to leave until they found a good story (or ran out of money). The result of this experiment is a smart, inventive, and visually stunning film called King Corn, which continues to open in theatres in selected cities across the country this December. To view the trailer, visit our "Watch" page.
King Corn is a slightly apocalyptic documentary that explores where we come from—or where our food comes from, at the very least. By interweaving a filmmaker-as-subject story of two guys, a cornfield, and some ammonia fertilizer with disparate elements, the film expertly tackles the complicated overarching issues related to farming subsidies in the United States.
Iowa
Fields of Opportunities
March 1st, 2003 | Kay Frances ScottIowa is best known for early political caucuses, Old Settlers Picnics, the fictional River City of Meredith Wilson’s musical Music Man, Kevin Costner’s Field of Dreams, and although not quite as famous, the corncam website. Yes, corncam. At www.IowaFarmer.com/corncam/corn.html you can literally sit back and watch the corn grow, with updates every fifteen minutes. But Iowa’s fields of opportunities are both vast and varied for mediamakers of all types.
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