On the surface of the American landscape, there is profound evidence of our collective history and a revealing portrait of our current values. The landscapes that we build and the landscapes that we remember are evocative locations, and never static. They are sites of struggle and change.
This experimental, non-fiction explores the site of Cabin Field, a mile-long stretch of agricultural land in Crisp County, Georgia. Through the memories of land owners, farmers, residents and agricultural laborers past and present, "Cabin Field" examines evidence both visible and submerged, material and ephemeral. Physical evidence of Native American inhabitance, the economic structure of sharecropping and the mechanization of agriculture combine with fading memories; scientific and agricultural surveys reveal old home sites and the changing contours of cabin field; and archival film images of rural Georgia emerge as fragments of evidence to comment on our understanding of race, gender and the construction of place. Ultimately, "Cabin Field" weaves a portrait of a place as a palimpsest -- multifaceted, complex, layered, ever changing.
     
Previous screenings :
ATHICA Athens Institute for Contemporary Art Athens, GA • 5-19-2007
"Ruburbs and Other Spaces Inbetween: Land Use and Environmentalism"
6th Annual Ozark Foothills Film Festival Little Rock, Arkansas • 3-30-07
Villa Julie College Stevenson, MD • 1.19.2007 Visiting Artist
Creative Alliance Baltimore, MD • 1.19.2007
North Carolina State University Raleigh, NC • 9.22.2006
Bickett Gallery Raleigh, NC • 9.21.2006
Atlanta Film and Video Festival Landmark Midtown Art, Theater 1 - Atlanta, GA • 6.12.2006
Black Maria Film and Video Festival, 2006, Jury Citation Award
911 Media Arts Center Seattle, WA • 5.19.2006
Pacific Northwest College of Art Portland, OR • 5.17.2006
Evergreen State College Olympia, WA • 5.16.2006
Delta International Film and Video Festival Cleveland, MS • 4.21-22.2006
Best Documentary
Balgan Experimental Film & Video Series, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA • 4.13.2006
Eyedrum Atlanta, GA • 4.14.2006
Finger Lakes Environmental Film Festival Ithaca, NY • 4.5.2006
Invited Featured Artist, Women Direct Film Series 25th Anniversary
Echo Park Film Center LA, CA • 3.2.2006
SCETV Southern Lens broadcast 3.2.2006 and 6.15.2006
Anthology Film Archives NYC • 2.8.2006
Georgia State University Atlanta, GA • 2.25.2006
University of Georgia Athens, GA • 1.30.2006
University Film and Video Association Chicago, IL • 8.2005
Appalshop Whitesburg, KY • 7.03.2005
Library of Congress, Mary Pickford Theater Washington, DC • 5.31.2005
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documentary
Cabin Field
produced, directed, edited by L. Kissel
video/cinematography: L. Kissel, H. Mehltretter
sound design: Joe Milutis
music composed by Joe Milutis
additional music written and recorded by Jason Treuting and Lawson White
digital video + 16mm film
39:20
high resolution (300dpi) frame grabs
DVD available for purchase: contact:laura@sc.edu for more information
Press booklet with commentary and descriptions available for download
Awarded:
Honorable Mention, Rural Route Film Festival 2005
Jury Citation Award, Black Maria Film and Video Festival 2006
Best Documentary, Delta International Film and Video Festival 2006
Invited Featured Artist, 25th Anniversary of Women Direct 2006
An excerpt of "Cabin Field" appears on the 2007 Oxford American DVD
Southern Movie Issue
Published Reviews:
In The Moving Image Journal, Volume 7, Spring 2007
[dowload review]
Upcoming screenings, broadcasts and appearances:
St. Mary's College of Maryland
Experimental Documentary Series,
February 11, 2008 [Visiting Artist talk and screening] NEH Exhibition The American Farm at
Old Independence Regional Museum,
Batesville, AK November 1, 2007
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