Folkfilms.com
 

             

All of the documentaries listed are $25 each plus shipping. $50 for universities, libraries and other public performance outlets. To order a VHS call (207) 725-2610 or email me at jsharkeys@netscape.net. To order a DVD see below.  Click on each underlined title for more information.

 

Click on photo to download a video sample

 

 

Hard Work

"To Make Both Ends Meet"

It’s a rare treasure to find so many working women’s first-person accounts from this era ... the wealth of information related to women working in early industrial America is of national interest.  **** Highly Recommended! Editor's Choice, Video Librarian, February/March 2005

I made this documentary with Carol Toner, Maine Studies Department at the University of Maine, and with the help of so many other local people, museums, historical societies and libraries in Maine and elsewhere. I am especially grateful to the women who read the "voices" of the women. They all worked and the university and did a great job doing the readings.

Go to the Hard Work page

Buy a DVD of Hard Work

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Penobscot Basket Maker

*** Recommended! Video Librarian 2003.

Award of Distinction; Indian Summer Image Awards, August 2003

Since moving to Maine in 2001 I have been fortunate to meet Penobscot basket maker Barbara Francis. She is a gifted basket maker and a wonderful person whose life and work are the subject of the fifty minute documentary Penobscot Basket Maker. This documentary was released in 2003.

Go to Penobscot Basket Maker Page

 

Buy a DVD of Penobscot Basket Maker

 

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The Fourteenth Shop

*** Video Librarian 2002.

 Award for Creative Excellence - 2002 International Film and Video Festival, Redondo Beach, California.

I met the McCanless family shortly before we moved from North Carolina to Maine. I would have liked to have met them earlier but that's the way. I am grateful that we did meet because I had a great time shooting the documentary and playing music with them. They are lovely people, wonderful artists, potters and musicians, and I am so happy to be able to call them my friends.

                        Go to The Fourteenth Shop page

 

Buy a DVD of The Fourteenth Shop

Click on photo to download a video sample

 

 

Melvin

Excellent Production! - Recommended; Library Journal, November 2001.

WINNER 2nd PLACE BEST DOCUMENTARY
CAROLINA FILM & VIDEO FESTIVAL 2001!

This documentary runs forty-six minutes and features eighty-three year old Seagrove potter, Melvin Owens and his family. He makes pots, plays music and talks about his life. Melvin died in April 2003. He is missed by so many. I really enjoyed doing this documentary and meeting him. Melvin truly was a unique individual and appreciated for that. It seems like most people in Seagrove have a story about Melvin that is fondly recalled - and it's usually pretty funny.

Go to Melvin page

 

Buy a DVD of Melvin

Click on photo to download a video sample

 

 

Buy a DVD of New Life

 

 

New Life

***½ Highly Recommended. Video Librarian, 2000.

"Winner Best Local Documentary, Carolina Film & Video Festival 2000"

This documentary is fifty-five minutes long and features sisters Neolia and Celia Cole, and their grandson, Kenneth George. The Cole sisters have been making pots for over sixty years or more. They learned from their father Arthur who moved the family to Sanford from Seagrove in the 1930's. They're great people and real nice. You could sit and talk with them for hours, and they always feed me lunch when I'm over there!.
Go to New Life page

 


 

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Crawdad Slip

***½ Recommended. Video Librarian, 2000.

Sid Luck is the first potter I ever met. You couldn't ask for a better introduction. He is so friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful. When I first thought of doing a documentary on pottery I didn't know where to start. Then I saw Sid's photograph in the local paper twice in one week. He was visiting a local school to demonstrate pottery and that's when I called him. I'm glad I did.

                     Go to Crawdad Slip page

Buy a DVD of Crawdad Slip
     

To order any of the documentaries listed please call (207) 725-2610

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