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‘Storm Lake’ documentary hits big screen in Iowa City ahead of national tour
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Art Cullen, directors to appear at Friday screening at FilmScene
Sep. 16, 2021 6:00 am
IOWA CITY — The subject of a new documentary on the Storm Lake Times, a 2017 Pulitzer Prize winner, will appear at a Friday screening as part of a national tour for the new film.
Art Cullen, who won the Pulitzer for his editorial writing challenging powerful corporate agricultural interests, will appear at Friday’s 7 p.m. screening of Storm Lake with directors Jerry Risius and Beth Levison. Following the opening night screening at FilmScene, the three will hold a Q&A session in person.
“Storm Lake” will be shown at FilmScene at The Chauncey for several daily screenings from Friday, Sept. 17 to Thursday, Sept. 23. The award-winning documentary feature’s theatrical tour will culminate with premieres in New York and Los Angeles, followed by a national television and streaming debut on PBS Independent Lens on Nov. 15.
Watch it!
What: “Storm Lake” documentary
When: noon, 2, 4:30 and 7 p.m. Sept. 17 to 19; and 2, 4:30 and 7 p.m., Sept. 22 and 23
Where: FilmScene at The Chauncey, 404 E. College St. #100, Iowa City
Tickets: $8.50 to $11 at ICFilmScene.org
Details: Film subject Art Cullen, publisher and editor of the Storm Lake Times newspaper and “Storm Lake” directors Jerry Risius and Beth Levison will be available for a Q&A following the 7 p.m. screening Sept. 17
The documentary feature follows the Cullen family’s fight to unite and inform their community in rural northwestern Iowa as their biweekly newspaper, the Storm Lake Times, hangs by a thread.
In a town where people like farmers and migrant workers confront “a changing community as global forces threaten their precarious existence,” the film follows Art Cullen and the family-run newspaper as they deliver local news and editorials on a shoestring budget.
“Come hell or pandemic, they’ll fight to preserve this town they call home. There’s simply too much at stake,” the synopsis reads.
As civic watchdogs, the family works to “protect their hometown and the legacy of credible journalism” at a time when the industry faces unprecedented challenges.
“’Storm Lake’ provides a penetrating, insider look at the struggle of a family-owned-and-operated newspaper trying to remain relevant, survive, and thrive in the age of journalism-by-the-algorithms, Trumpism, and COVID-19,” said Ed Rampell of The Progressive. “Over the course of … Storm Lake, a momentous media struggle sweeping small town USA is played out.”
Comments: (319) 398-8340; elijah.decious@thegazette.com
The staff of the Storm Lake Times, including editor Art Cullen, and publisher John Cullen (left), walk in the July 4, 2018, parade in Storm Lake. (Hugh Perry)
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