Press Kit

The best trips take you to who you are.

Butte Magic of Ignorance -- synopsis

Irene goes to Butte, Montana to find out about her great-grandmother. She finds a city full of stories, a former copper mining metropolis that faded, but endures. She pulls back the present to discover the layers that lead up to her, the genealogy she hopes will give her life meaning.

Purpose: A Statement

We strive for a reason, we search for a self. If we are wise or if we are ignorant we look to stories. Long ago we listened to the stories told by our grandparents, their faces lit by the licks of a fire at night. Now the stories come thru the air or thru a wire and stare at us from a blustery box. Now the stories come fast and empty; we eat them up and trust them deeply, these stories told by a package, by people we only know by shadow.

There are other stories -- stories that don't come so easy, that don't come wrapped in a package in a box, stories that we have to put together ourselves. The scraps of these stories are in family attics and closets, in lists of names in archives, in small faces in photographs. We need to connect the dots and compare the points to turn these scraps into a story. If these stories are to tell us about ourselves and about where we came from we need to reach as far into our own ignorance as we can to connect the scraps and make a meaning.

"Butte Magic of Ignorance" is a tale about such a connecting of dots, about such a connecting. It is a story told in light and sound and imagination - a work of fiction - but it was assembled to attempt to reach for some of the feelings of need, of story, of connection.

Yes, we have a poster.

The Players

John Akre (director, co-producer, co-writer, camera, editor) began making films with a Brownie 8mm camera he was given by a neighbor when he was nine. He has made literally hundreds of short films and videos since that time, and screens his films and videos on local public access television.

Rob Price (co-producer, co-writer, art director, second camera) also began his movie career as a teenager with an 8mm camera. He does art department work in Los Angeles and Seattle, his current home.

Mary Charlotte Farmer (Irene, additional photography) has acted and danced on stage. She is currently a student at Montana State University in Bozeman.

Dan Akre (Frank) began his film acting career at the age of five, appearing in his brother John's 8mm movies. Dan has acted on stage and in a number of independent films, and has also worked in radio. He currently lives in Los Angeles.

Kristine Harley (Emily) has acted on the stage and in short films. She also writes, and has done regular film reviews for a Twin Cities weekly newspaper.

Butte Magic of Ignorance

Credits

Produced by John Akre and Rob Price

As Irene… Mary Charlotte Farmer

As Frank… Dan Akre

As Emily… Kristine Harley

As the boyfriend… Dan Glenn

As the webfriend… Megan Shaw

As her mother… Amelie Collins

As young Irene… Whitney Peplinski

As her childhood friends… Natalie Peplinski, Kymberlyn Soland, Christina Iverson, Mollie Morgan

As the Narrators… Barrett Golding, Jim Stokes

With the Dublin Gulch Memories… John Atkinson

At the Butte Archives… Ellen Crain

With genealogy stories… Brandal Glenn, Debrah Reilly, Greta Gramig, Lisa Kerns, Josh Kerns, Cheryl Elmer, Frank Ruffolo, Deborah Sills, Mike Weix, Paul Rose, Bruno Heidrich

Story, Script, Camera, Direction, Editing… John Akre

Story, Art Direction, Second Camera… Rob Price

Music by Own, The Sandwiches, Skyward, The Los Hermanos Brothers

Assistant Production Manager… Megan Shaw

Audio Consultants… Greg Carr, Barrett Golding, Jim Stokes

Additional Photography… Mary Charlotte Farmer

Casting Assistance… Stephanie Campbell, Dan Glenn

Location Assistance… Frank Ruffolo, Paul Rose, Gerry Walter, Ellen Crain, the Staff at El Toro, Dan and Susan Glenn

Running time: 88 minutes