Farming documentary to be rereleased in coming weeks

FAIRFIELD - Fairfield resident Dick DeAngelis announced that the third film in the Fairfield History Series will be rereleased with new footage later this month.

The film, titled 'A Place to Grow,” is about the history of agriculture in Jefferson County. It premiered Sept. 20 at the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center's Stephen Sondheim Center for the Performing Arts, and it was shown again two days later at that same venue.

In the two-plus months since then, DeAngelis, his director of photography Jason Strong, and others have been refining that product with the hope of reshowing the film in the near future. DeAngelis, the director and producer of Fair Field Productions, which is making the film, said that this 'director's cut” of the documentary contains over 100 new clips and animations.

Fair Field Productions still is working on a timetable as to when the newly cut film will be shown at the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center. DeAngelis said it will be sometime after Christmas, and perhaps after Jan. 1. However, he does believe that the DVD of the film will be available as early as Dec. 20. Those who wish to obtain a copy of the film can call 641-919-4277 or email dickd@deangelis.net.

DeAngelis said he wanted to rerelease the film because it was so well received, and at the same time he knew that it could be even better with further editing. Edits were still being done to the film on the night of its premiere on Sept. 20, and further edits were made before its second showing two days later.

'This is taking a labor of love to a whole new level,” DeAngelis said. 'This past weekend [Dec. 8-9], I was working full time on the film. I felt we had to redo it. We released a rough edit [in September], but now we've edited the story and really finished the film.”

Members of the public have approached DeAngelis to tell him how moved they were by the documentary. One woman stopped DeAngelis on the street and told him that the film changed her life. When DeAngelis went to his polling place to vote in November, two election workers told him the film was his best documentary yet.

The film recounts the history of agriculture through interviews with the people who lived it, including 12 interviews of farmers over 90 years old. The documentary has a section on what farming was like in the 1930s before electricity had reached rural areas, and in some cases where farmers were still relying on horse-drawn plows. New ways of raising crops are featured, too, such as regenerative agriculture and organic farming.

'The buzz around this film gives you a good feeling about Fairfield,” DeAngelis said. 'It seems to have struck a nerve in Jefferson County.”

After the release of the DVD and the showings planned for the Fairfield Arts & Convention Center, DeAngelis hopes to show the film at the Fairfield Public Library and any nursing homes in the area.

The next film in the Fairfield History Series will be called 'Ahead of Their Time,” and will focus on entrepreneurship and the first businesses in the county. DeAngelis said it will be released about a year from now. The one after that, No. 5, will be on Parsons College, a major draw to the town during its 98-year history from 1875-1973.

The first film in the series premiered in 2017 and was called 'Life Before Fairfield.” It covered the life-forms that lived in southeast Iowa thousands of years ago through its settlement by humans, the Native Americans. The second film premiered in 2018 and was called 'Heroes of Fairfield.” It covered Jefferson County's role in the underground railroad and touched on other heroes who have called the area home.