Village at the End of the World

A must see for all Front Porchers, Village at the End of the World considers a community that tatters at the brink of sustainability. The film traces the town through the changing seasons--its life is profoundly connected to the movement of the seasons. It's a bit hard to find--we watched a version on youtube that I'm afraid was shortened and seemed to have been broadcast by Al Jazeera (why? because it portrays community living?).

The ending is pretty happy--the community manages to reopen their fish factory and to open fish factories in other town.

However, you also see the downside and difficulties of community. Lars lives with his grandparents, as if they're his parents. His mother was unmarried when she conceived him, and he thinks of her as a sister now. The man he thinks is his father has never acknowledged him, despite being another member of this 50-some-person community. No wonder he wants to leave--he's not interested in hunting and fishing, which is the primary activity of the community; he spends a lot of time online and is afraid he won't meet a partner in his town.

The man who was the comic relief of the documentary was the man in charge of emptying each house's sewer. He moved to the town in order to marry one of the inhabitants, whom he'd met online.

The film was an honest look into the benefits and liabilities of such a close community.