A couple of documentary film-makers are making a stop in Skaneateles next week and are seeking people local people interested in telling their story.
Joe and Barbara Lane, along with their German sheppard Ella, have planned a cross-country motorcycle-tour covering about 3,000 miles and including stops in 50 towns to record interviews with people affected by the 2008 economic crisis.
The Lanes are asking that anyone interested in sharing their story contact them now via their website, aftershockamerica.com, to set up a meeting before they embark on the trip.
Their film, titled “The Vote,” will be about how many Americans are still struggling to recover from the recession. Their website describes the project as being about telling the stories of real people:
“As we barrel across America, we are letting Americans tell their story and how the economic earthquake changed their lives. One by one, Americans have had to pay the price for the financial crisis that they didn’t cause. Many Americans are unemployed, homeless, riddled in debt, bankrupt, just trying to build their lives again. But most of all, they have been forgotten … by their leaders. We intend to videotape and tape record each and every person willing to tell their experience, so that no one is forgotten and change is around the corner.”
The idea for the film was in part inspired by a novel recently penned by Joe titled “Aftershock: A novel.” The book tells the fictional story of a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, whose life is ruined by the recession. In search of answers, she leads a group that “wages war on the powerful elite responsible for the economic catastrophe.”
The trip will start in Monticello, N.Y. on Sept. 9 and conclude in Bellingham, Wa. on Sept. 26, most of the stops are in small cities and towns and the route uses rural highways rather than interstates.
The project’s website lists the stop in Skaneateles as Tuesday, Sept. 10 from 1 to 2 p.m., though the schedule will be flexible and the couple is hoping to have interviews set up ahead of time for most of their planned stops, Joe said in an email.
Their time in Central New York will also include stops in Cortland and Auburn.
Their plan is to conduct a multitude of interviews this month and then pick out 10 to 15 people to highlight in the film and return to interview them again several times.
The book has a planned release date of Jan. 15, 2014 and they plan to have the film completed by Sept. 1, 2014, Joe said.
Joe Genco is the editor of the Skaneateles Press. He can be reached at [email protected].
