The Last Season 2014
Distributed by First Run Features, 630 Ninth Avenue, Suite 1213, New York, NY 10036; 212-243-0600
Produced by Josh Penn, Alana Pryor Ackerman, Sara Dosa, John Montague, Adam
Spielberg
Directed by Sara Dosa
DVD, color, 78 min.
High School - General Adult
Veterans, Family Relations, Foraging
Date Entered: 01/20/2016
Reviewed by Jessica Isler, Academic Librarian, University of Maine at AugustaThe Last Season focuses on the family relationship between Roger Higgins and Kouy Loch, through Roger’s final season hunting the elusive and lucrative matsutake, or “matsi” mushroom. Both men are veterans; Roger, a Vietnam veteran who suffers from PTSD, lingering shrapnel wounds, and relies on an oxygen tank to support his labored breathing, and Kouy, a veteran of the Cambodian Khmer Freedom Fighters, and former platoon leader who lost part of his leg to a land mine. Every autumn the population of Roger’s remote hometown of Chemult, Oregon temporarily swells when mushroom foragers and buyers arrive to hunt the prized fungus that can sell for hundreds of dollars per pound in international trade. Most of the year, Kouy lives in Stockton, California, and though it pains him to leave his young daughter for the month long trip, every year he journeys to Chemult to stay in a makeshift cabin next door to Roger and his wife Theresa, both of whom adopted Kouy as their son.
The film shows several interesting scenes of life at the mushroom camp, and also includes a graphic animal butchering scene, but The Last Season is ultimately a very personal story about friendship. For these two men at least, the best treatment for their psychological wounds was found in the simple, quiet friendship that developed as they hunted mushrooms in the woods. Recommended for libraries serving veterans and mental health and substance abuse programs.
Awards
- Winner, Best Bay Area Documentary Feature