BRATTLEBORO-On Wednesday, Aug. 27, at 6 p.m. Vermont Center for Photography (VCP), 10 Green St., will host a screening of a new film, The Photo Returner, by Garret Harkawik, followed by a discussion with him.
Harkawik, a VCP member, documentary filmmaker, and composer living in southern Vermont, will screen his short documentary film (15 minutes) and will provide a glimpse into the filmmaking process. He will be joined by the film's star, Erin Bohannon, who will also be answering questions and bringing photos from her collection to show.
The film relates that by night, Bohannon works in a plastics factory, but by day, she is an amateur genealogist, working to reunite the lost photos in her growing collection with the descendants of those they depict.
It's a process that can sometimes take years of research. But once she has a photo in her possession, she never discards it - even when it means making sacrifices in her personal life.
"When you walk into a thrift store, you are bound to come across stray photographs of people from decades past - portraits, vacation photos, and domestic life," organizers wrote. "To most, these lost photos are a brief window into the past. To Erin Bohannon, they are an unbearable tragedy."
The film was directed, shot, and edited by Harkawik. Since 2011, he has completed nearly a dozen short documentaries and accompanying scores. He lists his work as having been screened at festivals such as DOC NYC and Rooftop Films and having been featured in The Atlantic, Short of the Week YouTube channel, and twice as a Vimeo Staff Pick.
For more information, visit vcphoto.org.
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