Enjoy a broad range of content "Made Here" by regional filmmakers as selected by Vermont PBS. See the world from unique and vast perspectives.
La Vie En Rose
Thursday, September 19, 07:00 pm on Vermont PBS | More air times
Yvan Plouffe loves roses. He grows thousands at his farm in Charlotte to freely distribute across the community. This is the story of his generosity of spirit, creative drive, and family roots in Vermont and Quebec. (Duration: 0:45)
My Father, My Farm
Thursday, September 19, 07:45 pm on Vermont PBS | More air times
When a lifelong farmer receives a letter outlining the harsh new realities of the dairy industry, he must confront not only his past, but his future as well. (Duration: 0:13)
An Uncommon Curiosity: with Bernd Heinrich
Thursday, September 26, 07:00 pm on Vermont PBS | More air times | Watch preview
Follow Bernd Heinrich, one of the world's most insightful and original biologists, over the course of a year as he reflects on his past and shares his ideas about nature, science, art, beauty, and writing. Heinrich has been both a Guggenheim Fellow and a Harvard Fellow, and has been awarded two honorary doctorates. Considered by many to be today's finest naturalist author, Heinrich has written 18 books on various aspects of the natural world and published numerous scholarly papers, professional book reviews, book chapters, and articles for magazines and newspapers as diverse as the New York Times, Outside and Runners World. In addition to his scholarly work he is a world-class ultramarathoner currently holding a U.S. 100-mile track record. (Duration: 1:00)
Nebi: Abenaki Ways of Knowing Water
Thursday, October 3, 07:00 pm on Vermont PBS | More air times
Nebi ("water"): Abenaki Ways of Knowing Water was created to share and help preserve the Abenaki creation stories of Lake Champlain, and the deep connection Abenaki people have with water. It opens with Chief Don Stevens of the Nulhegan Abenaki tribe sharing stories of the creation of the Lake Champlain Basin, the lake itself, and an underwater serpent who protects the lake; many people know this serpent today as Champ. The film continues with short vignettes from several Abenaki tribal members who share their knowledge of water use by past and present Abenaki people and about the significance of water in the lives of the Abenaki people, and of all people. (Duration: 0:11)
Coding
Premiered Thursday, September 12, 07:00 pm on Vermont PBS | More air times
The Vermont Folklife Center's School Transformation Ethnography / Storytelling project seeks to document and better understand the changes currently underway in Vermont public schools, and to provide stories, and resources for dialogue, that foster meaningful conversation and progress in support of students, teachers, school administrators, and community members who are working to foster student-centered, personalized, and proficiency-based learning. "Coding" looks at an innovative, student-driven, curriculum track at Montpelier High School that teaches students basic to advanced coding techniques. The film follows the students and educators in the beginner track--as well as the more advanced students that were the initial founders of the program. (Duration: 0:14)
In This Together
Premiered Thursday, September 12, 07:15 pm on Vermont PBS | More air times
The Vermont Folklife Center's School Transformation Ethnography / Storytelling project seeks to document and better understand the changes currently underway in Vermont public schools, and to provide stories, and resources for dialogue, that foster meaningful conversation and progress in support of students, teachers, school administrators, and community members who are working to foster student-centered, personalized, and proficiency-based learning. "In This Together" profiles the classroom of a social studies educator, Joe Rivers. Mr. Rivers has been a proponent of project-based and personalized learning for decades and he invited us to document his classroom. This film showcases his social studies classroom, as well as a "skills block" where students engage in community-based, self-directed projects about Brattleboro, Vermont history-including the production of a podcast that airs weekly on the local radio. (Duration: 0:15:09)
The Kids We Lose
Premiered Thursday, September 5, 07:00 pm on Vermont PBS | More air times | Watch preview
A documentary feature focusing on the national crisis of kids with social emotional, and behavioral challenges, the difficulties these kids present to parents, educators, and the legal system, the frustrations experienced by their caregivers in trying to ensure that they receive the help they need, and the counterproductive, often inhumane ways in which they are treated. Produced by Lone Wolf Media and the non-profit Lives in the Balance -- and winner of the Best Feature Documentary award at the 2018 New Hampshire Film Festival -- the film shows how this treatment can often propel these kids on a pipeline to prison. (Duration: 1:26)
Freedom & Unity TV Award Winners 2019
Premieres Thursday, September 12, 07:30 pm on Vermont PBS | More air timesÂ
A selection of five short award winning films from the 2019 Freedom & Unity TV Youth Film Contest, created by Vermont students. Selections include: Preserving the Heart of Vermont, Vermont Love, The Journey Ahead, and In Plain Sight. (Duration: 0:30 )
Seeing Through The Wall, Meeting Ourselves In Palestine and Israel
In 2016, Rabbi Dov Taylor invited a group of Americans to join him on a tour of Israel and Palestine. The purpose was to introduce tour members to Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories and East Jerusalem, or as Rabbi Taylor put it, "I wanted Americans, and American Jews in particular, to have the opportunity to meet and get to know some Palestinians as human beings, just like themselves, with the same hopes and fears and dreams." For twelve days they toured Israel and Palestine with the intention of listening and learning. They met with Israelis and Palestinians and witnessed what life is like for Palestinians in the Occupied Territories. They learned about the situation of Palestinians who are citizens of Israel and met with Israeli and Palestinian activists who are working for peace.(Duration: 0:58)
An American, Portrait of Raymond Luc Levasseur
Put on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list in 1977 for his involvement in bombings by the radical Marxist group United Freedom Front, Vietnam veteran Raymond Luc Levasseur was arrested in 1984, charged with bombings and bank robbery and sentenced to 45 years in prison. From his cell in 1992, Levasseur wrote a personal essay, "My Blood is Quebecois", in which he traced his rebellion and radicalization to growing up as a Franco-American in a small town in Maine, the descendant of Quebec immigrants who'd come south to work as mill workers. Released on parole in 2004, Levasseur returned to live in Maine; today he looks back on his life. (Duration: 1:40) Watch preview
Quebec My Country Mon Pays
Charts the aftermath of Quebec's Quiet Revolution in the 1960s. This social justice movement unleashed dramatic cultural and political changes that led to the separatist movement, the FLQ terrorist crisis and, ultimately, the exodus of more than 500,000 English-speaking Quebecers. Montreal-born filmmaker John Walker's roots in Quebec go back 250 years. Yet he's struggled his entire life to find his place and to feel he truly belongs. This film explores a very personal story through the lens of a cast of characters including three generations of his family, childhood confidantes and artistic contemporaries - Denys Arcand, Jacques Godbout and Louise Pelletier - as well as Christina Clark, a young person whose experience today mirrors Walker's own in the 1960s and '70s, and Emilie Gelinas, a young Quebec independentist. (Duration: 1:30) Watch preview
Seven Writers
At the prestigious Bread Loaf Writers' Conference in the Green Mountains of Vermont, a diverse group of accomplished poets, novelists, and essayists recall the turning points in their lives when the power of language first took hold of them. They remember their influences and mentors, share their struggles as well as the successes that formed their craft and style. With interviews intercut by theme, the filmmakers bring us into a compelling conversation about what forms a writer's life. (Duration: 0:55) Watch preview
Response: A Portrait of 4 Environmental Artists
An intimate look at the lives of four local artists who seek different approaches to addressing environmental challenges through their work. The film was Peter VanderWilden's senior thesis project at the University of Vermont, and it explores the commonalities and differences in the artists’ approach to process, content, participation, and materiality. (Duration: 0:27) Watch previewMaker
Explore what makes a maker tick. What drives them and inspires them. From a retired architect living at Wake Robin who makes puzzles of Vermont, to a young up and coming green fashion designer, to an organic farmer that makes and invents new farming equipment in the winters. (Duration: 0:26) Watch previewÂ
Forlorn Hope
On a warm summer afternoon, late in the Civil War, more than 850 Maine soldiers accepted orders to charge an entrenched Confederate position on the outskirts of Petersburg, Virginia. Within 10 minutes of their charge, more than 630 of those soldiers were struck down. It was the largest number of casualties from men in the same regiment in any battle of the War. "Forlorn Hope" captures the story of the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery Regiment leading up to their fateful charge, sharing the perspectives of the men who participated in the battle and its aftermath. (Duration: 0:27)
Art & Spirit
Filmmaker Dale Schierholt takes us inside the studios of painter, Harold Garde. Garde talks about his art, first at his winter studio in Florida and later at his studio in Maine. Now at 91, Garde has transitioned into yet another stage of his long and celebrated career. Accepting the finite amount of time he has remaining, Garde embraces his time in the studio and focuses his energies solely on making paintings. No longer concerning himself with the next gallery show or museum exhibit, Garde creates art on his own terms. The thoughts shared by the 91 year old painter offer insight into a fulfilling and successful life. (Duration: 0:53)
100: Head/ Heart/ Feet
Follow ultrarunner Zak's intensive training regiment and its impact on his relationships as he attempts to run The Vermont 100 Endurance Race. Filmed on the race's 25th anniversary, the film records the stories of handlers, pacers, and crew members while exploring the friendships that motivate their preparation for this grueling race over 100 miles of Vermont's paved streets, gravel back roads, and wooded trails...in daylight and darkness... all within a 30 hour time limit. (Duration 1:29)
On Main
In September of 2016, the band Madaila shut down Main Street in downtown Burlington and brought 1000 people out for its inaugural Madaila on Main Festival. Check out their high energy performance and learn more about what brought the band together in this new documentary by award-winning filmmaker, Michael Mooney. (Duration: 0:55). Related: Watch Madaila on Bardo!
Faces of Vermont Agriculture
Shines a spotlight on eight Vermont farm families who are dedicated to farming in a way that protects and improves the natural resources upon which they depend. Utilizing gorgeous landscape scenery from all regions of the state, the film helps viewers understand and better appreciate the ways in which farmers work to balance production and profit. Candid and heartfelt interviews with the farm families reveal their motivation for farming at a time when the pressure is high. From low milk prices to meeting state required agricultural practices, farmers are striving to make their businesses profitable but also sustainable. Learn more about what drives them to keep farming, to care for the land, and to work with local conservation groups to continuously improve their farming operations. (Duration: 0:24). Related: Watch Saving Our Waters | Watch preview
Beerology: Vermont IPA
A comprehensive look at the people who make and enjoy Vermont India Pale Ale beers. Why is the IPA style of beer so popular, and what makes Vermont once of the best places in the world to find one? Which Vermont IPAs are traditional to the original English IPA and how have these Vermont beers evolved? Join director Ian Sweet as he travels the state in search of answers to these questions and more.
If Stone Could Speak
Stonecutters emigrated from northern Italy to Barre, Vermont, the "Granite Capital of the World." Follow the artisans and their families from quarries, workshops and schools in Italy to granite carving sheds in New England, as they seek their own identities, choosing what to keep and what to cut away from their American and Italian legacies.
The Story of Vermont's Quiet Digital Revolution
A new social media network within and exclusively for residents of Vermont called "Front Porch Forum" that focused on "hyper-local" communication. Although almost completely unknown outside of Vermont's borders, within them a characteristically quiet digital revolution was underway.
Â
Q&A with Alan Dater & Lisa Merton
Â
Interview with Alan Dater & Lisa Merton, the producers of Burned: Are Trees The New Coal? Recorded with Made Here host Eric Ford at the Vermont PBS studio.
Q&A with Mark Utter and Emily Anderson
"Why did you want to make a film about your life?" Made Here host Eric Ford asks "I am in here." writer and star Mark Utter this question and more in a special Q&A with Mark and producer and communication support Emily Anderson. #StandUpForAutism. Learn more at Mark's website www.utterenergy.org
Arts & Culture
Discover films showcasing cultural heritage and the arts.
Explore Québec
Explore the history and culture of Québec through a series of films from the National Film Board of Canada.
Fiction Films
See stories that are focused on our community, made by community members.
History
Learn about significant people and events in the history of Vermont and the surrounding region.
Nature & The Environment
Explore the natural word and environment of our region.
Public Affairs & Social Issues
Encounter diverse perspectives on a range of public affairs topics and contemporary social issues.
Sports & Recreation
Enjoy films focused on sports and recreation in the great outdoors.