BELLOWS FALLS, Vt. – “Just Getting By,” a new documentary film by Bess O’Brien focused on Vermonters struggling with food and housing insecurity, will play at the Bellows Falls Opera House on Saturday, Oct 12, at 7 p.m. Tickets are can be purchased at the door, or on the Bellows Falls website. Director Bess O’Brien will be part of a special Q&A after the film.
“Just Getting By” is a sweeping, and yet intimate, look at the lives of Vermonters who are struggling with food and housing insecurity. The film has been touring the state over the last five months, and is raising consciousness about the pressing issues that working and low-income people are dealing with every day in their lives.
Vermont has the second highest rate of homeless people in the United States, right after California. One third of Vermonters struggle to put food on the table. These are big issues for a small state. “Just Getting By” focuses on these issues in the lives of everyday people.
The film tells the stories of working families, folks who are homeless and accessing food shelves, and soup kitchens and people who are living in temporary hotel/motel programs. In addition, the film focuses on new Americans grappling with the cost of living in America, Native people creating innovative farming practices, and folks on the ground providing services to their fellow Vermonters in need.
“Just Getting By” explores the day-to-day challenges and incredible resiliency that low-income Vermonters bear witness to every day.
The film was shot during 2022-2023 by director O’Brien and cinematographer Patrick Kennedy. “We wanted to capture the day-to-day lives of Vermonters who were living paycheck to paycheck, and who were struggling to keep food on the table and a roof over their head. We also wanted to show the incredible resiliency and courage of folks who have very little, and still manage to get up every day and strive for a better life,” O’Brien says.
The movie is produced by Kingdom County Productions, and has garnered rave reviews as it crosses the state.
Vermont Lt. Gov. David Zuckerman says, “This film puts our societies’ realities into a visible and real format for people to see. It is such critical work for Vermonters to see.”
Seven Days movie reviewer Margot Harrison said, “Bess O’Brien’s film presents us with vivid case studies that give life to economic facts and figures. For anyone concerned about the state’s future, this film is an important watch.”
For more information, go to www.kingdomcounty.org, or email O’Brien at bobrien@pshift.com.