Backwoods Blog .165

A MOMENT IN THE SUN

Backwoods Blog;

in the woods and on the road…

“A Moment in the Sun” filmmakers at The Cup Cafe (Bangor Daily News)

When New York filmmakers Mia Weinberger and Tom van Kalken heard about Houlton, Maine as the last point on the path of totality in the United States for the 2024 total solar eclipse, they thought (perhaps), this might make an interesting film documentary. How does a small rural town in northern Maine prepare and welcome tens of thousands of eclipse goers for an event this big? Mia is a comedian, actress, writer and filmmaker known for her clever characters, impressions and her YouTube videos “Washing Your Hands With…” popular during Covid. Her latest film is the award-winning “Last Hurrah” (2022) which she wrote, stars in and directs. Van Kalken is the director of two short films “The Salt of the Earth” and “The Rarest Drug on Earth.” The Houlton eclipse documentary “A Moment in the Sun” is their first feature-length film together.

Linda and I met the filmmakers back in February when they came to Houlton to research the film, meet people and look for possible locations to shoot. When I found out they were avid coffee drinkers, I knew just the place we should meet. I turned the espresso machine on at The Cup Cafe, we chatted and they even helped test the drink special we were developing for the upcoming eclipse; the totality latte (one shot of caramel sauce, one shot of chocolate sauce, textured milk and two shots of espresso), also known as “the blackout.” I often find myself describing Houlton as a place that reminds me of the 1990s TV series “Northern Exposure.” Even with our remote location, there is no shortage of interesting story lines, colorful characters and quirky circumstances. Each week feels like a new episode. Houlton should make a great location for a feature-length documentary about a total solar eclipse and who knows what?

Mia and Tom, along with two members of their film crew from Australia, arrived a week before the eclipse to start shooting footage (there was still snow on the ground). The rest of the crew would arrive on the weekend. They had a long list of locations and were intent on getting as much footage as possible, as they say, “You can’t edit what you don’t shoot.” One of the shoots was a small dinner party with Randi Bradbury, Ira Dyer, Linda and I having a casual conversation about the upcoming eclipse. It also happened to be both Randi and Linda’s birthday so it provided an extra excuse to have a party (you will see a photo below of them getting ready to blow out the candles). The ambitious shoot schedule kept the film crew busy all week in their attempt to capture and document the “eclipse experience” in Houlton. As we went about our activities at The Cup Cafe and UUHoulton during the eclipse weekend, you never knew when a camera person might show up and start shooting. At times it almost felt like we were on a reality TV show, but after a while you just ignored it and hoped the edit turned out okay in the production process. Andy Warhol once said, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” Well, this was Houlton’s “slightly less than 4 minutes” of fame. It was our moment in the sun. Now we just wait until the film comes out…

For more information about the film check out amomentinthesunmovie.com They also invite people to send in photos or videos taken during the weekend, and especially during the eclipse itself, to potentially be included in the documentary. You can upload material on the film website. For more information about what comes next, check out Dave’s Five Minute Interview with Mia and Tom.

Keep looking up at the sky!

This concludes the eclipse episodes,

Dave

May 28, 2024