Name: Sam
Genre: Documentary, Short
Duration: 22 min
Rating: 6
Cast: Sam Phelps

Fine piece but needed a wider view of Sam's cause

Oscar nominated Aaron D. Weisblatt short documentary "Sam" follows an idealist farmer/wood worker from New York fighting a noble cause: to save a watershed from the devastating effects of pollution as greedy companies and some locals don't care about it or are uneducated about the environmental causes, back in its early days.

Sam Phelps is introduced to us being part of a long tradition of family farmers but he's the one whose family sent to college to learn advanced economy and future technologies, enough learning to help his community with many issues unfamiliar to older generations.

I liked the piece but it was hard to see Sam's cause being shown as it should, with a wider perspective of what's going wrong and what needs to be done to mantain the watershed safe and clean. The film spends a lot of time with Phelps working with materials rather than showing who's the ones he fights. But his talk about no one caring about the future except when it comes to future money is exactly the main issue with the world, profit over a sustainable quality of life and benfits for the world. Poignant questionings. 6/10.

The documentary is a form of non-fiction storytelling that aims to present factual information, insights, and perspectives on real-world subjects, events, issues, or people. Documentaries can cover a wide range of topics, including history, science, culture, social issues, nature, biographies, and more.

Dziga Vertov in Man with a Movie Camera (1929)

The short form refers to creative works characterized by their brevity and concise storytelling. Unlike full-length feature films, short films have a running time of less than 45 minutes, while TV shorts have a running time of less than 22 minutes.

Benedict Cumberbatch in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (2023)

Sam Phelps, a New York State farmer takes a stand against the possible destruction of a nearby watershed, pointing out the need for thoughtful planning and careful land management.

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Sam

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