THE VERMONT MOVIE

Working Title:
FREEDOM & UNITY

A collaborative documentary film-in-progress that weaves together threads running through Vermont's history, connecting our present, past and future.


Since it declared its independence in 1777, Vermont has been a beacon for innovative, courageous and truly independent decisions about political, social, and cultural issues.
This maverick spirit has deep roots in the rocky soil of the Green Mountain State and town meetings have helped it flourish. Vermont was the first state to outlaw slavery, to allow same sex civil unions, to call for the impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon, to protect its environment with the groundbreaking land-use law, Act 250.

But how does Vermont's  courageous opposition in 1850 to the Fugitive Slave Act reconcile with its reputation as one of the whitest states in the union? How does Vermont's identity as "maverick" co-exist with its treatment of the Abenaki, its native population? And how did Vermont make the transition from being the most "Republican" state to one of the most liberal? Has Vermont's quest for freedom and justice threatened its unity – with other colonies and states, with the nation as a whole, and even among its own people?

A group of critically acclaimed Vermont filmmakers and historians set out to answer these questions, and understand Vermont's maverick spirit: where it comes from, how it shapes our present, and how it lays the groundwork for the future.

Our filmmakers will film up to two dozen town meetings in both 2008 and 2009, and this present-day footage will be used as a unifying device to structure the film and to draw parallels between historical and present-day issues. While Vermonts's scale has allowed town meeting governance to flourish, it is now endangered. By using town meeting as our structure, we celebrate it, and reassert its importance, especially in an age of increasing globalization.

Target release date: Summer 2009 – to coincide with Lake Champlain’s Quadricentennial celebration.

Themes connecting Vermont’s past with its present:

  • RESISTANCE/REBELLION
  • FREEDOM/TOLERANCE
  • GRASS ROOTS DEMOCRACY
  • ARTS ' CULTURE
  • ENVIRONMENTALISM/CONSERVATION
  • EDUCATIONAL INNOVATION

Project coordinator: Nora Jacobson
Project administrator: Nat Winthrop
Technical coordinator: Kate Cone

Check out next month's special events at Montpelier's Green Mountain Film Festival: http://www.greenmountainfilmfestival.org/