Filmmaker Daniel J. White hosted a screening of his documentary “Monadnock: The Mountain that Stands Alone” at KSC’s Putnam Theater on Thursday, Jan. 25.
Clocking in at around an hour, the film highlights perspectives on Mount Monadnock from different groups and cultures at various times in American history. After the screening, White also held a question-and-answer session with members of the viewing audience.
The documentary was brought to the theater in collaboration with the Harris Center for Conservation Education.
The Harris Center staff host showings at the Putnam semi-regularly, according to the organization’s Science Director Brett Thelen, who introduced White before the film showed.
“It was so great to see [the documentary] on the big screen, because I hadn’t had that chance yet,” Thelen said.
Both White and Thelen voiced praise for the Putnam bringing the film to life for a wider audience. The theater was nearly full during the film.
White described one of the goals in making the film was to bring the experience of Mount Monadnock to people who may not have the ability to physically reach it.
The film is currently available on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) mobile app.
White also said he was working to distribute the documentary on DVD and Blu-ray, as well as distributing the music from the film on CD and vinyl record.
White said he began work on “Monadnock” in 2009. He detailed that at that time, he knew very little about the both Abenaki Indigenous people in the Monadnock region and the African slave trade which operated in New Hampshire during the 18th and 19th centuries. Through working on the film, he said he learned more information about these topics and groups present in the area and decided to include them in the project.
One of the stories included in the film is that of Amos Fortune, a slave who purchased his own freedom and lived and worked in Jaffrey, N.H. near the mountain.
“People have asked me, ‘Why is Amos Fortune in there?’” White said. “And I kind of see the mountain as … a witness of all that surrounds it, and the story of Amos Fortune is just too incredible not to tell.”
The documentary also featured several interview segments with individuals who have some form of connection with the mountain, such as members of the Abenaki Bruchac family and Larry Davis, a hiker who travels to Monadnock’s peak every day.
Ben Harley, a KSC junior and film major who attended the screening, said he enjoyed the film. During the question-and-answer session, Harley asked White about the process of getting the interviews featured in the final product.
“You just listen to them,” White responded. “And make sure they know you’re listening so that they do the talking. You barely say a word … just asking questions just like you would with any other person.”
Charlotte King can be contacted at
cking@kscequinox.com
