Mendocino Coast Films Presents
A
fter completing a number of films for local non-profits
an idea began percolating for a film that was close to our hearts. We had the
desire to highlight the amazing activists on the Mendocino Coast, the people
who have steadfastly protected our environment from clear cutting, from a nuclear
power plant being built on an earthquake fault, from oil drilling off the coast
and on and on. We interviewed Els Coopperrider and Doug Mosel about their successful
campaign to stop GMOs in Mendocino County with that film in mind.
But then, in a dusty corner of
the barn, we found the next piece of the inspiration puzzle. We discovered a
box of Super 8 film cans of footage shot during the Country Women days in Albion
around 1970. Country Women was a feminist magazine that was published on the
Mendocino Coast during the 1970s. The magazine was born from the consciousness-raising
movement and lasted about ten years. At its height it had thousands of subscribers
and was sold nationally. Women from all across America sent in articles, photos
and drawings on the themes for each issue. Sexuality (a big seller), Homesteading,Women
as Artists, Older Women and Kid’s Liberation were some of the themes. The
other half of the magazine had “how to” articles to help women in the country
learn the skills that they needed to be self-sufficient and liberated from roles.
The magazine was a powerful force for change in this community and some of the
founding collective members still live here.
The film footage we found in
the barn was still in good condition and we thought “what if these same women
were interviewed today, forty years later? What would they have to say?” Women
On The Land: Creating Conscious Community was born.
The film took three years to complete.
We worked on it when farm work was slower in the winter. As we interviewed one woman
we were directed from her to another woman. The film unfolded in this way. We
filmed community events as they happened. This is something that a filmmaker
from out of the area could never do.
We were
able to grab the camera and be there when the time was right. Laurie, the cameraperson,
followed Carmen around the farm capturing special moments that also would have
been impossible for any other cameraperson to get. Hiving a swarm of bees, following
the cheese making process from goat kidding through milking and finally the cheese
making itself. This is what makes the film a “local” production.
The film is the story of one
rural community but it could be translated to thousands of others around the
country. The consciousness-raising that inspired the magazine was about women
understanding gender roles and their oppression. The women were transformed by
what they learned and brought their insights back to the men of this community
(many of whom started their own groups). As a result, our entire community has
consciously evolved and Women On The Land is the story of that evolution.
—Filmmakers Laurie York and Carmen Goodyear