Hippies grow up in opening presentation of winter series

By Leila Javitch
The fall series of documentaries presented by the Documentary Film Committee on Monday evenings at the Norfolk Library was a great success. The final film, “American Meat,” shown on November 23, drew a large crowd who got to munch on locally grown sausages and smoked meats produced in Southfield, Massachusetts as well as to see an arresting film. A lively discussion followed the screening.
An equally interesting series is planned for this winter. The concept behind the films remains the same, to show good documentaries that have some connection to the Northwest Corner or those that hold a particular interest to a member of the Norfolk community, who will introduce the film. The first screening in the winter series is slated for Monday, February 1. The film, titled “The Same River Twice,” records a month-long rafting trip on the Colorado River made by a group of free-spirited friends in 1978. The filmmaker, Robb Moss, was a rafting guide and a member of the party.
Twenty years later, Moss, now a teacher of film making at Harvard, revisits the members of the trip and learns what course the rafters’ lives have taken. The documentary cuts between their carefree youthful lives and their present day responsibilities as adults. They are baby boomers who have grown up. Or as Moss himself puts it, Prozac has replaced peyote.
The film will be presented by Tom Hodgkin, who may or may not have once been a hippie, but is now a responsible citizen of Norfolk. It should be noted, in case it offends anyone’s sensibilities, that the original rafters in the film are often naked.
A different film will be presented every Monday evening between February 1 and March 22, with the exception of February 22. Any Norfolkian who has a favorite documentary is invited to propose it to the Documentary Committee to be considered for a possible library screening.