I am looking for the title of a
documentary film I saw a few years back.
(if there is a link to more information, please also provide)
The program aired on Comcast Cable in (I was in Vail, CO at the time)
during August of 2001. I believe it was an HBO original, perhaps part
of America Undercover, but it may have been IFC, Sundance or even
SHOtime.
The plot, to the best of my recollection goes something like this...
The movie follows families (I believe in the deep south) who sell
fireworks, and it tells of larger chain firework stores moving in on
their territory. I think this was the main plot... I'm not 100% but I
believe it also went into the desperation of these peoples lifestyles.
I seem to remember an old man sitting on a broken down front porch
waiting for Prozak to arive by mail. This scene very well may come
from another movie. But I'm trying to give as much detail as I can...
It's all a little cloudy. Focus on the Fireworks, that's really what
we're looking for.
Thanks in Advance.
Hi Shawnmc!
I located a documentary that might be the one you have in mind.
This documentary focuses on a stretch of highway where fireworks
stands line the road in each direction. Manned by Indians of the
Suquamish nation, the stands are both dreams and burdens, financial
opportunities and potential liabilities.
There are interviews with vendors who've been in business for decades
and some who are just starting out.
Unlike larger retailers, the Indian merchants are stuck with their
unsold stock at the end of the season, so every day is a gamble, and
even the successful ones dread the next bad year.
One first-time stand owner puts her house in the balance by using
mortgage money to buy a stock of fireworks. A veteran seller has long
depended on fireworks sales to make up the income shortfalls between
salmon runs. Another couple uses income from their stand to start a
Baptist Church on the reservation.
Does the above description sound like the documentary you?re looking for?
Thanks,
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Quick & efficient! Lots of great information, Thank you!
Yes! I believe this is it! Thank you! I've been looking for this for
some time. Wonderful work.
In response to bobbie7...
It sounds like you may have it... Quick response too!
Can you tell me if it aired on cable? is it old enough to qualify for
having aired in 2001? A link to any additional info (IMDB?) would be
great.
I thought the film might be Boomtown.
"Boomtown," by former Seattle filmmaker Bryan Gunnar Cole, follows
several local fireworks stands through the summer season, from the
warehouse trips to select their stock to the post-holiday firing of
unsold wares.
In the process, it explores tribal sovereignty and the economic
realities of Suquamish life."
The Sunlink
http://www.thesunlink.com/news/2002/june/06243boomtown.html
The film, Boomtown, aired July 2nd of 2002 on PBS as part of their
"POV" series. The trailer can be viewed at:
http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2002/boomtown/index.html
Please take a look at the following information about the documentary.
?For the Suquamish Tribe of the Port Madison Indian Reservation in
Washington State, tribal sovereignty offers a tempting but limited
economic opportunity-the sale of Fourth of July fireworks. The film
chronicles the daily challenges of making a living as well as the high
hopes and high anxiety of fireworks season.!?
http://www.nativenetworks.si.edu/esp/orange/1829.htm
?Just in time for July 4tcomes Bryan Gunnar Cole's lively visit to the
Suquamish National near Seattle, where selling fireworks has become a
tradition for some Suquamish tribal members. For 30 years, this part
of Indian country has sold fireworks that are officially banned off
the reservation, attracting non-Native American buyers from near and
far. This film offers a special glimpse into contemporary Native
American life, where tradition meets today's economic realities with
successful results?
http://www.kqed.org/tv/indiefilms/0211indie.jsp
?Boomtown focuses on a stretch of highway not far from Seattle, where
fireworks stands line the road in each direction. Manned by Indians of
the Suquamish nation, the stands are both dreams and burdens,
financial opportunities and potential liabilities. Interviewing
vendors who've been in business for decades, and some who are just
starting out, director Bryan Gunnar Cole approaches the issue of how
Indians survive in America and how culture is kept alive by hook or by
crook. (The irony of subsisting on an industry whose biggest day is
the Fourth of July hardly goes unnoticed.) Unlike larger retailers,
the Indian merchants are stuck with their unsold stock at the end of
the season, so every day is a gamble, and even the successful ones
dread the next bad year. Still, that doesn't stop newcomers -- one
impatient woman urges her husband to "get this hustle on" as they pore
over order sheets. ("Big Bad Ass" is one choice option.) The pun in
the title is sure ironic, as is the nod to industrial overkill. But in
the end, the people in Boomtown are just getting by; irony is just a
fringe benefit.?
http://citypaper.net/articles/2002-06-27/screen.shtml
?While most Americans celebrate July 4th by simply watching fireworks
displays, for some tribal members of Washington State's Suquamish
nation, selling and setting off huge displays of fireworks for
Independence Day is its own summer ritual. "Around here, we call it
Fireworks Season," says Bennie Armstrong, Tribal Chairman of the
Suquamish nation. "It's an important part of the local reservation
economy." As shown in Bryan Gunnar Cole's "Boomtown, " fireworks can
be serious business.
(..)
For Armstrong and others, selling fireworks entails calculated risk
and detailed planning. One first-time stand owner puts her house in
the balance by using mortgage money to buy a stock of fireworks. A
veteran seller has long depended on fireworks sales to make up the
income shortfalls between salmon runs. Another couple uses income from
their stand to start a Baptist Church on the reservation. Through it
all comes a surprisingly intimate view of contemporary life on the
Port Madison Reservation.?
http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2002/boomtown/buythevideo.html#buythevideo
?It?s never been a real priority of mine to let a festival make or
break me,? says Bryan Cole, who is in the process of submitting his
documentary short, Boom Town, to festivals. ?Often, people believe
that if their film is going to a festival that they?ll be catapulted
into some orbit that heretofore had been inaccessible. Festivals are
great, but you still have to go out and make another movie.? Boom
Town, which is about members of the Suquamish Tribe in Washington
State who sell fireworks in the summer, will actually be Cole?s fourth
short on the festival circuit. This time he?s hoping to make it to one
of the top-tier festivals, and not just on to the shortlist as he has
at Sundance previously.?
http://www.aivf.org/resources/tips/pinskerfestivals.html
More about Boomtown
http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2002/boomtown/index.html
I couldn?t find any other documentary about fireworks. Do you think
Boomtown is the film you have in mind?
Thanks,
Bobbie7 Peter Hamilton and Consultants: R2K Documentary Television in the ::
Looking for Help to Assure Your Success in Documentary Television? to compelling issues in the documentary television industry for more than 20 years.
http://www.documentarytelevision.com/HOME |
Thank you for the five star rating and tip!
--Bobbie7
Dear shawnmc,
I'm pleased that I found the exact documentary you were looking for.
To purchase or rent this program for home or educational purposes, please contact:
Mixed Greens
URL: http://www.mixedgreens.com
601 West 26th Street 11th Floor
New York, NY 10001
Telephone: 212-331-8896
Toll free: 1-866-MGREENS
Fax: 212-343-2134
Email: docs@mixedgreens.com
http://www.pbs.org/pov/pov2002/boomtown/buythevideo.html#buythevideo
Best wishes,
Bobbie7
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