Educational Media Reviews Online

We’ve heard a lot in recent years about the kitchen tables of families across the main streets of this country. This documentary lets us pull up a chair at one American family’s table. Dottie and Don are the heads of a working class family living in the Mohawk Valley in central New York. (They also happen to be the parents of one of the filmmakers, which helps explain the sensitivity with which the film was made.) From one Halloween to the next, we learn about the ghosts that haunt four generations of this working class family. Don, who spends time in his basement building delicate wooden dollhouse furniture, suffers from PTSD due to his Vietnam War experiences. His wife, Dottie, often filmed in her cheery yellow kitchen, is grimly realistic about her family’s past, present, and future. She describes the cycle of teen pregnancy and spousal abuse endured by her daughter, Donna, and repeated by her granddaughter, Daneal. Tough and persistent, Dottie believes in the good in people. She refuses to give up on a troubled foster son even after he’s robbed them. She won’t turn her back on her husband’s sister, a self-proclaimed witch, who Don ignores because “she’s not contributing to society.”

A sense of family and home, whether restricting or comforting, is ever present. Seasons pass, while the cycle of dysfunction reveals patterns difficult to overcome. Dottie’s young granddaughter, Desi, offers a glimmer of hope by saying she’s smart and that she’ll be different. Beautiful shots and music provide a memorable backdrop to the changing seasons and measured pace of this film. October Country is a documentary that amplifies the poignancy of the mundane. Awards

• Winner, Sterling Grand Jury Prize for best U.S. Documentary Feature, Silverdocs Film Festival, 2009
• Winner, Best Debut Feature, Cinema Eye Honors, 2010
• Winner, Best Musical Score, Cinema Eye Honors, 2010
• Winner, Maysles Aware Special Jury Prize, Denver International Film Festival, 2009