30th Annual - June 10 - 13, 2010
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A Puppet Intervention
Website
documentary
Running Time: 73
From chaos comes art, and from art, a community.For thousands of people in the community of Chapel Hill, NC, a picnic and a puppet show under the stars is an annual August tradition. That's right. A puppet show. Not the Captain Kangaroo variety, but a spectacular production featuring giant, other-worldly creatures, original music performed by a live band, and stories that seem simultaneously ancient and modern all performed in a primitive amphitheater made of stone. Paperhand Puppet Intervention not only tells stories with recycled cardboard, found fabric and donated paint, but weaves together a grassroots community of art, music and environmental activism. We've lived in a lot of different places and it's hard to find something that connects you to the community the way something like this does, says an audience member in the film after a performance. I can't imagine this existing in a whole lot of places. It's just very special. Background: This film documents the tumultuous creation of the 2007 production of A Shoe for Your Foot. As puppeteers and musicians fish in a swirling tidal pool of ideas, everyone must persevere through extreme heat, exhaustion and creative differences. Indecision and physical illnesses threaten to de-rail the show. While juggling day jobs, the puppeteers rehearse in an abandoned cotton mill with no air conditioning while the band practices at night in an empty school room. Meanwhile, volunteers help build puppets, paint sets and collect cash donations. For the show to go on, it all has to happen in a matter of weeks. PHPI is the creation of Donovan Zimmerman and Jan Burger, two artists in their 30's who, since 1998, make a modest living by creating environmental puppet shows for children, cajoling pedestrians into parades and staging an annual performance on the campus of the University of North Carolina. Their work also shows up at peace rallies and street protests. Whether a shadow puppet a few inches high or a massive dragon 30 feet tall, a PHPI performance is inspired by a deep love of nature and the storyteller's drive to find meaning in everyday life. A Puppet Intervention features original music by The Paperhand Band, a talented and eclectic group of musicians who can shift from roots rock to polka to world beat rhythms all within a single show. The Southern Documentary Fund is the fiscal sponsor for the film.About the filmmaker:Mark Barroso shot, wrote and edited A Puppet Intervention, his first documentary feature film. Based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Barroso is a 25 year veteran of television news. Most of his work has been segments for national television news shows, including The Today Show, Dan Rather Reports, and all of the nightly news broadcasts. As a producer for an investigative unit for a local affiliate in Tampa, Florida, he won numerous awards from the AP, UPI, and RTNDA, as well as three state Emmy Awards. As a soundman, his work included five days with the Rolling Stones for 60 Minutes , and an undercover investigation in Honduras, and a spectacular death scene in a fake hunting accident (ala Dick Cheney) for The Daily Show. His production company is called Fork in the Road Films and can be found on the web at forkintheroadfilms.com. Director's statement: I have been living in the Chapel Hill area for years and these massive puppets seemed to appear at every festival and parade I went to. Then, I discovered an annual show they put on in the summer in this outdoor amphitheater that had been virtually abandoned. One day my neighbor, who plays in the band, suggested I do a documentary on the making of a show. I didn't hesitate, knowing that the film would have everything music, exotic visuals, colorful characters, and most importantly a natural ending. The community, or tribe as they like to say, didn't disappoint. If the line wasn't already taken by the film Moulin Rouge, I'd say it was a Spectacular Spectatular.
Producer: Mark Barroso
Director: Mark Barroso
Editor: Mark Barroso
Cinematographer:
Music: Jim Beckwith
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