Stranger with a Camera
| Stranger With A Camera | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Elizabeth Barret |
| Written by | Fenton Johnson |
| Produced by | Elizabeth Barret, Judi Jennings |
| Edited by | Lucy Massie Phenix |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Appalshop |
Release date | January 2000 |
Running time | 61 minutes |
| Country | Template:FilmUS |
| Language | English |
Stranger With A Camera is a 2000 documentary film by director Elizabeth Barret investigating the circumstances surrounding the 1967 death of Hugh O'Connor. Barret, who was born and raised in the region, explores questions concerning public image and the individual's lack of power to define oneself within the American media landscape. By contrasting multiple perspectives from locals and O'Connor's film crew, Barret weaves a tale of a complexly motivated crime with an insightful exploration of how the media affects the communities it chronicles. The film premiered at the 2000 Sundance Film Festival and later aired on the PBS series P.O.V. [1].
Plot
Filmmaker Elizabeth Barret explores the tensions that led to the murder, and the issues that linger still, a generation later. Barret narrates the film, describing her childhood and teenage memories growing up in a middle-class home in eastern Kentucky. By her own account, her teenage memories of high school fun and family vacations stood in stark contrast to the hunger and poverty depicted in the national media. The story of Hugh O'Connor and Hobart Ison would acquire additional significance for Elizabeth Barret when she began to study filmmaking at Appalshop, a regional media arts center whose mission was to teach local people to film and document their own culture [2].
Background
O'Connor had been hired to direct a film about the "American Dream" entitled US. In addition to highlighting many of the prospering areas in America, O'Connor chose to document Letcher County in eastern Kentucky. Letcher County was located in a region known as Appalachia, a 200,0000 square-mile region that had become a metaphor for all that was wrong with the “American Dream” [3]. President Johnson had declared a War on Poverty in 1964, strongly focused on the Appalachian region.
Reporters, film crews, and television journalists had already been entrenched in Letcher County long before O’Connor arrived. While many of Letcher County’s residents were hopeful the attention would bring change, others were angered and felt exploited by the media's portrayal of their community. Hobart Ison, a local man who rented several properties to Appalachian miners, was one such disgruntled resident. On the final day of his shoot for US, Hugh O'Connor was filming mining families living in shacks rented by Ison. Enraged by their intrusion, Ison threatened the film crew with a .38-calibre Smith & Wesson revolver. He fired several shots, one striking O’Connor in the chest and killing him.
Awards
2000 Sundance Film Festival
• Nominated, Grand Jury Prize - Documentary
2000 International Documentary Association
• Nominated, IDA Award - Feature Documentaries
2000 San Francisco International Film Festival
• Won, Silver Spire, Film & Video - History
References
- ^ "Jury Split in Death Of Film Producer; Mistrial Declared". New York Times. 1968-06-01. p. 28.
- ^ http://www.itvs.org/strangerwithacamera/story.html
- ^ http://www.itvs.org/strangerwithacamera/story.html