Published on November 18, 2009

A farmer tries unsuccessfully to get away from his farm in a scene from Meredith Holch’s animated film Neighbors. Photo courtesy of Meredith Holch

This is a time that millions of people flock to movie theaters to enjoy blockbuster films produced at the cost of hundreds of millions of dollars by the Hollywood dream industry.  There is nothing wrong with that, but it is inevitable that these huge hits are designed for the widest, rather than the deepest appeal.

At the same time there are people who, with much smaller financial resources at their disposal, use cinema to reach out to an audience that is smaller, but perhaps more engaged.

Two examples of the latter style of filmmaking were presented on the borders of Orleans County on November 14 and 15.  Animator Meredith Holch of East Hardwick showed a selection of her films at River Arts in Morrisville Saturday evening, while Chip Troiano screened a documentary that, in part, chronicles one of his visits to Vietnam.

Ms. Holch’s films are presented under the rubric of U-Can-2 Productions, and their style is such that an unwary viewer might add easily to the

The undocumented farm workers who carry some of the load of Vermont agriculture are shown by Ms. Holch as reverse silhouettes. Photo courtesy of Meredith Holch

company name.  Her quirky vision and the precision of its execution give the lie to that notion.

In her most recent film, Neighbors, Ms. Holch takes a highly concentrated look at the situation of undocumented Mexican farm workers living in Vermont.  Within the film’s 15-minute running time she depicts the difficulties faced by Vermont’s dairy farmers and the problems encountered by the hired workers who come, illegally, to the farmers’ aid.

In a brilliantly conceived scene, a silhouette of a man attempts to climb over the border only to be driven back by a helicopter.  The man persists and walks through the wall, turning into a square of fabric with a cutout of a man inside.

The undocumented worker continues to exist as a hollowed out space while in public, although in scenes set inside the workers’ quarters provided by the farmer, he is seen as a fully realized figure quickly shuffling through the channels provided by a satellite dish mounted on the porch.

A neighbor walks to the farm where the Mexicans are working through a lovingly detailed village.  The crisis that afflicts Vermont dairy farms is depicted by a wave of milk that flows out of a hay mow and washes the farmers away.

Another farmer is painted onto his barn.  He manages to pull himself almost free from his backdrop but is held in place by a little piece of fabric that will not allow him to leave.

While Ms. Holch uses this sort of visual pun to convey the ties between Vermont farmers and their undocumented workers, such scenes are interspersed with breathtaking naturalistic depictions of life in the state.

While Meredith Holch’s films lack Hollywood glitz, the animator makes up for that in personal glamour. Here she takes part in a festival of street bands in Somerville, Massachusetts, this fall. Photo by Joseph Gresser

Her portrayal of the farm workers’ trailer accurately depicts the kind of life that workers separated from the society around them must live.  The workers have to view the outside world through a screened window.

As summer gives way to winter the view through that window changes from a sunlit vista of the barnyard to one obscured by frost and blowing snow.  The dance of a group of giant cluster flies puts the final stamp of reality on the scene.

Although Ms. Holch’s sympathy for the plight of farmers and Mexican workers comes through clearly, her film neither preaches nor sets out an agenda for a solution.  The closest Ms. Holch comes to a prescription for action is when a woman encounters a poster advertising a community meeting to discuss the situation.  The woman writes the details on her hand.

Ms. Holch showed several other films to round out her program.  All combined a playful visual sensibility and engagement with the problems people face in daily life.

Viewers of her work will come away amazed at her ability to deploy simple technical means to create work that both entertains and challenges an audience’s beliefs.

Edward Nef, a former foreign service officer and congressional staffer who runs an international chain of English language schools, wants to challenge Americans’ views about Vietnam.  His choice was the traditional one of making a documentary film.

Local audiences have had the chance to see Vietnam — The Reconciliation in Craftsbury and on November 15 in Hardwick.  The showings were courtesy of Stannard resident Chip Troiano, whose visits to scenes of his Army service form a major portion of the film.

Speaking in the film, Mr. Nef says that his interest in Vietnam was stimulated by an encounter with Thuy Thu Do, a woman who became his partner in opening an English school in Hanoi.  She tells Mr. Nef about her experiences during the war when she was moved out to the countryside to avoid the U.S. bombing of the North Vietnamese capital and separated from her mother for several years.

Mr. Troiano movingly recalls his experiences during the war.  At a visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., Mr. Troiano tears up as he recalls being thanked for his service for the first time just after the monument’s dedication.

Touring Vietnam with fellow veterans, Mr. Troiano meets former soldiers who fought on the other side of the conflict.  Though once enemies, the

Chip Troiano takes questions after a showing of Vietnam — The Reconciliation in Hardwick. Photo by Joseph Gresser

feeling between the men seems mutual respect rather than bitterness or hostility.

Mr. Nef, in separate sequences, reveals the surprising news of close economic ties between the U.S. and Vietnam.  He talks with entrepreneurs, including a man who is producing oil off the coast of Vietnam in a joint venture with the country’s communist government.

Mr. Troiano says that Mr. Nef hopes to have his film shown on television, but some technical difficulties may prevent that from happening.  In the meanwhile local people who want to see Mr. Nef’s or Ms. Holch’s films should keep their eyes peeled for showings around the area.

While neither film offers huge special effects or big stars, each has something more important — a direct connection with the real-life concerns of people in the Northeast Kingdom.

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