In the harsh dust bowl landscapes of rural Oklahoma, a young boy yearns to join the rag-tag group of kids who make a living hunting crows for his father, the local butcher. However, as the vilified birds begin to guide him to new understandings about his family, he and his newfound friends embark on a journey to discover their secrets.
“Nowhere”, a town impoverished by the dust bowl, becomes home to Woody (9) and his violent and manipulative father shortly after his mother’s disappearance. His father, the town butcher, is planning a banquet for Nowhere’s new railroad, where he intends to serve crow meat to unsuspecting guests. Woody, admiring the boys his father hires to kill the crows, resolves to prove himself to them in the hopes of finding community. Torn between the familiar grasp of his abusive father and the solace he finds in a newfound friendship with the children, he hesitantly joins the children on a mission to track down a nearby roost in order to collect enough crows to supply the banquet. Upon arriving at the roost, Woody discovers that the crows have a special tie to his missing mother as they bring him into a world of memory and truth through a bird’s eye view.
Our purpose is to use our artistic practice of filmmaking to tell a story about childhood in the face of adversity, and the class divide that has historically plagued the United States. In order to properly represent this, we have put an emphasis on the historical research process, allowing us to base our story in a grounded historical atmosphere that takes into account the multitude of factors shaping American life in the time period. We’ve chosen stop-motion as our medium in order to address these more difficult themes while maintaining a world that feels childlike and vivid, as well as to incorporate the world of the crows seamlessly within the reality of the film.
The development of this film has been in progress for the past year, which has included thorough historical research, story development, and scriptwriting. As a stop-motion project, the focus moving forward will be hands-on and will require a variety of materials with which to build the world and characters of our story. In keeping with the film’s themes of scarcity and ecological issues, we have committed to maintaining a standard of sustainability throughout the length of the production. This will mean acquiring materials sustainably through resources such as Concordia’s CUCCR, favoring materials that can be repurposed throughout the project as well as afterwards, at which point we will donate all materials to be used again.
Our goal is to end up with a film that speaks on the themes mentioned in a way that resonates with people and moves people to engage in community and to embrace a childlike wonder even in the face of adversity. We hope to submit this film to an array of festivals in the hopes of connecting with a larger viewership, as well as promoting the film amongst the Concordia community.
YEARS FUNDED
2025
AMOUNT ALLOCATED
$3,600