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Ontario's Stratford Perth Museum will showcase The Barn Raisers, an award-winning documentary by Mid-America Emmy® nominated filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films. The film will screen on Friday, November 29th at 7:00 p.m. during a free public event sponsored by Ontario Barn Preservation, VELD architect, and Stratford Perth Museum. The Museum is located at 4275 Huron Road, Stratford, Ontario. A Q&A with Ontario Barn Preservation's board of directors will follow the film presentation.
“The Barn Raisers feels like a hymn to the solemn beauty and importance of these buildings,” wrote Entertainment Editor Jonathan Turner of the Dispatch-Argus.
Film critic Linda Cook, Quad City Times, gave The Barn Raisers four-out-of-four stars.
The Barn Raisers tells the story of barns in the Midwest by examining them through the lens of architecture. The film explores what building methods, barn styles, and materials tell us about the people who built them, the life they lived, and the role these “country cathedrals” played in the settling and building of the Nation. The Barn Raisers is a companion film to the Rundles’ Emmy® nominated historical documentary Country School: One Room – One Nation.
“How could we create something from practically nothing with just a handful of tools and no drawings? The answer is in the barns,” said Rudy Christian, a traditional timber framer and barn preservationist from Burbank, Ohio.
Barns were constructed by farmer-craftsmen, professional builders like Wisconsin round barn builder Alga Shivers who traveled from job to job, and even architects like Frank Lloyd Wright. The Barn Raisers paints a cinematic portrait of barns and builders, an important way of life that has been largely forgotten, and the film reminds us that these remnants from America’s rural past are still here to be interpreted and experienced.
The Stratford Perth Museum is located at 4275 Huron St, Stratford, Onatario, Canada. Attendees are invited for socializing, film, art, architecture, and the love of barns. The event is free. Donations to Ontario Barn Preservation are greatly appreciated. For more information call 519-393-5311 or visit https://www.stratfordperthmuseum.ca/
The Barn Raisers was an Official Selection at the Newport Beach Film Festival, the Beloit International Film Festival, the Interrobang Film Festival, the Royal Starr Film Festival, the Sunback Film Festival, and an award-winner at the Iowa Independent Film Festival.
The Barn Raisers was funded in part by Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area, Wisconsin Humanities Council, Humanities Iowa, the Kansas Humanities Council, the Michigan Barn Preservation Network, the Ohio Humanities Council, the National Barn Alliance, the Moline Foundation, and the Community Foundation of Jackson County. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this documentary film and program do not necessarily reflect those of the organizations.
The Rundles are the producers of twelve award-winning documentaries including the Lost Nation: The Ioway 3-part series, and the Emmy® nominated Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City and Letters Home to Hero Street (co-produced with WQPT-PBS). Their new documentary Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg, co-produced with Emmy-nominated writer Garry McGee, will be released in early 2020.
To order Fourth Wall Films' award-winning The Barn Raisers on DVD, click HERE!
Production on The Barn Raisers took us on a long journey through the country roads of the Midwest to capture footage of all kinds of barns and the stories of their builders. We met farmers, storytellers, builders, historians, barn detectives and preservationists in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa and Kansas.
Not surprising, our filming put us on the path to several magnificent round barns with fascinating histories. In her interview for The Barn Raisers, author and photographer Nancy Schumm-Burgess (Wisconsin Barns) referred to the round barns as the "sexy barns". She is right. We found fewer round barns than conventional barns on the Midwestern rural landscape, but they are restored at a higher rate due to their unique and appealing design.
To order Fourth Wall Films' award-winning The Barn Raisers on DVD, click HERE!
Round barns hit their stride in constuction between the 1880s and 1920s. Prominent agricultural colleges promoted the round barn design for its efficiency--touting the circular shape had a greater volume-to-surface ratio than a square barn.
The Kansas State Board of Agriculture, included the efficiency of the round barn in its Eighteenth Biennial Report, 1911-1912 and applauded the research by the College of Agriculture -University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign:
"The Illinois authorities have conducted innumerable tests pertaining to the efficiency of the round barn; they have built two of these barns on the grounds of the college farm, and for several years have utilized them with great success as quarters for live stock and to provide storage room for grain and hay. The results of their detailed investigations show that the circular structure is much stronger; that the rectangular form requires twenty-two percent more wall and foundation to enclose the same space; and that the cost of material is from thirty-four to fifty-eight per cent more for the rectangular building. The round barn offers greater convenience in storing, handling and distributing the feed while much greater strength is secured with less lumber than is possible in the case of the rectangular building."
"Typically, a round barn would have a silo in the center, livestock on the ground floor, and a large hay loft on the upper floor. Ideally, the barn would be built on a small incline to allow farmers to drive a wagon with hay into a haymow on top on the incline while cattle could be driven from the pasture into the bottom of the barn for milking or storage," notes ExploreCU.org. "The round shape of the barns allowed for greater wind resistance, important in Midwestern prarielands."
Wilber John Fraser, former Professor of dairy husbandry and Chief of Dairy Husbandry in the Agricultural Experiment Station at the College of Agriculture -University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, argued that "the shape and arrangement of round barns allowed for greater efficiency, and thus decreased labor. Feed and mow for cattle was dropped down an interior chute or center silo to cattle below."
The round barn never quite caught on. They were more complicated to build and the spread of machinery eliminated the advantages of the "labor-saving designs".
The few that remain are stunning to see and one cannot help but stand in awe of the work that went into building them, and the farming stories that still echo inside.
To order Fourth Wall Films' award-winning The Barn Raisers on DVD, click HERE!
Following an interview with Barn Lady Pamela Whitney Gray (author of Ohio Barns and Americanization of the Family Farm, we discovered this beautiful Ohio round barn with very photogenic horses snacking in the foreground.
A Vernon County, Wisconsin round barn built by African-American builder, Algie Shivers. Shivers' work is featured in The Barn Raisers.
Featured in The Barn Raisers, "The Foley/Reece barn was the first of only five round barns built in Kansas by Benton Steele, the foremost designer, builder and promoter of round barns at the time," said Jon Reece, who, with his wife Terri, restored the historic barn for events and weddings. It is located Derby, Kansas at Round Barn Ranch.
The J.H. Manchester Round Barn located between Roundhead
Situated on a hill on their scenic farm outside of Davenport, Iowa sits a rare round barn built by architect Benton Steele. It is a treasure and the pride of owners John and Marlene Penne. The Nebergall Round Barn is featured in The Barn Raisers.
To order Fourth Wall Films' award-winning The Barn Raisers on DVD, click HERE!
Iowa Documentary Showcase presents The Barn Raisers, the award-winning documentary by Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films. The one-hour documentary will screen on Saturday, March 2 at 10:30 a.m. at the State Historical Building, 600 E. Locust St., Des Moines, Iowa. The Rundles will take part in a Q&A discussion following the film.
The Barn Raisers tells the story of barns in the Midwest by examining them through the lens of architecture. What do barn settings, styles, methods and materials tell us about
the people who built them, the life they lived, and the role these vanishing country cathedrals played in the settling and building of a growing nation? The Barn Raisers paints a cinematic portrait of barns and builders, and reminds us that these remnants from America's rural past are still here to be appreciated and experienced.
Filmmakers Kelly & Tammy Rundle (center) pose with the Barley House Band, featured in The Barn Raisers.
Kelly and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films) are the producers of twelve award-winning documentaries including the Lost Nation: The Ioway 1, 2 & 3 series, and four Emmy® nominated films including Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, Country School: One Room - One Nation, River to River: Iowa’s Forgotten Highway 6, and Letters Home to Hero Street (co-produced with WQPT-PBS). Fourth Wall Films is an independent media production and distribution company based in Moline, Illinois.
To order a copy of The Barn Raisers on DVD, click HERE!
The Barn Raisers, the award-winning documentary by Moline-based filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, is an Official Selection at the 2019 Borrego Springs Film Festival in Southern California held January 17-21, 2019.
The crowd-pleasing film will screen on Monday, January 21 during the 1:00 p.m. film block at the Borrego Springs Performing Arts Center, 590 Palm Canyon Dr, Borrego Springs, California. The final day of screenings is free to the public.
The award-ceremony follows at 3:30 p.m. at the La Casa Del Zorro for festival pass holders only. Visit http://www.borregospringsfilmfestival.org/ for tickets and festival information.
To order the award-winning The Barn Raisers on DVD, click HERE!
Producer Tammy Rundle.
The Barn Raisers, the award-winning documentary by Moline-based filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, is an Official Selection at the 2019 Borrego Springs Film Festival in southern California held January 17-21.
The crowd-pleasing film will screen on Sunday, January 20 during the 1:00 p.m. film block at the Borrego Springs Performing Arts Center, 590 Palm Canyon Dr, Borrego Springs, California.
“The Borrego Springs Film Festival is a young and popular Southern California juried film festival that is placed in one of the most beautiful and unique locations in the United States. Surrounded by 640,000 acres of Anza Borrego Desert State Park, this natural beauty has long attracted tourists and filmmakers,” the website states.
Borrego Springs Performing Arts Center hosts the 2019 Borrego Springs Film Festival each year.
“We are very pleased that The Barn Raisers continues to draw interest from film festivals and audiences all over the country,” said producer Tammy Rundle. “The film previously appeared in the Newport Beach Film Festival in California.”
The Barn Raisers tells the story of barns in the Midwest by examining them through the lens of architecture. The film explores what building methods, barn styles, and materials tell us about the people who built them, the life they lived, and the role these “country cathedrals” played in the settling and building of the Nation. The Barn Raisers is a companion film to the Rundles’ Emmy® nominated historical documentary Country School: One Room – One Nation.To order the award-winning The Barn Raisers on DVD, click HERE!
The Gilmore Car Museum in Hickory Corners, Michigan is on of many barns featured in The Barn Raisers.
On Sunday October 21, 2018 the award-winning documentary The Barn Raisers, produced by Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, will screen in Cadillac, Michigan at the First Congregational Church during its "Movies for the Mind" series. Preservationist/barnwright Steve Stier, who appears in the documentary, will take part in a Q&A discussion following the film.
he Barn Raisers tells the story of barns in the Midwest by examining them through the lens of architecture. What do barn settings, styles, methods and materials tell us about
the people who built them, the life they lived, and the role these vanishing country cathedrals played in the settling and building of a growing nation? The Barn Raisers paints a cinematic portrait of barns and builders, and reminds us that these remnants from America's rural past are still here to be appreciated and experienced.
Stephen Stier in The Barn Raisers.
Movies for the Mind offeres thought-provoking and honest documentaries touching on issues of the body, mind, and spirit. From socially-conscious themes to environmental and political matters, Movies for the Mind presents films from a wide variety of sources, including independent filmmakers, with messages that matter. Films presented have won major awards at festivals ranging from Sundance to Berlin.
The doors will open at 5:00 p.m. with the film starting at 5:30 p.m. Donations are accepted. Viewers are encouraged to bring their own seating (chair, pillow, blanket, lawn chairs), beverages and other movie snacks. Popcorn will be available to purchase.
The First Congregational Church is located at 200 E. Harrist Street, Cadillac, Michigan. The movie will be shown in the Fellowship Hall.
Kelly and Tammy Rundle (Fourth Wall Films) are the producers of twelve award-winning documentaries including the Lost Nation: The Ioway 1, 2 & 3 series, and four Emmy® nominated films including Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, Country School: One Room - One Nation, River to River: Iowa’s Forgotten Highway 6, and Letters Home to Hero Street (co-produced with WQPT-PBS). Fourth Wall Films is an independent media production and distribution company based in Moline, Illinois.
To order a copy of The Barn Raisers on DVD, click HERE!
The Barn Raisers producers Kelly and Tammy Rundle, of Fourth Wall Films, have received a Mid-America Emmy® nomination for their new documentary Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City. This is the Rundles' fourth Regional Emmy® nomination.
The Moline, Illinois-based independent production company successfully competed with 42 proposals by 36 other media production companies nationwide to win a contract to produce "Good Earth" for the visitors center at South Dakota's newest State Park, Good Earth at Blood Run.
Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City tells the fascinating and forgotten story of the Blood Run National Historic Landmark as told by a Native American grandfather to his grandchildren. Produced in 4K, the documentary combines vivid present-day views of the park's scenic vistas and wildlife with dramatic historical reenactments portraying daily life in the year 1650.
The Good Earth site in Iowa and South Dakota was occupied between 1500 and 1725 by ancestors of the present-day Omaha, Ponca, Ioway and Otoe-Missouria tribes, making it one of the oldest long-term habitation sites in the United States. At its peak around 1650, the site was home to 6,000-10,000 residents--more than Boston (2,000) and New York (New Amsterdam-1,000) in that same year--making It the largest city in what is now the United States.
Good Earth was an important Native trading center for pipestone, bison hides and culture. The once-vibrant city featured hundreds of lodges, earthen mounds, and a serpent-shaped effigy mound an eighth of a mile long.
Fourth Wall Films is an Emmy® nominated and award-winning independent film and video production company formerly located in Los Angeles, and now based in Moline, Illinois. The Rundles are the producers of the award-winning The Barn Raisers, Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg (co-produced with McMarr, Ltd.), Lost Nation: The Ioway series, Villisca: Living with a Mystery; the Emmy® nominated Country School: One Room - One Nation, River to River: Iowa's Forgotten Highway 6, and Letters Home to Hero Street (co-produced with WQPT); and the soon-to-be released docudrama Sons & Daughters of Thunder.
Fourth Wall Films focuses on telling Midwestern stories through historical documentary films that reach viewers via PBS broadcasts, theaters, film festivals, national DVD release and online streaming.
To purchase Fourth Wall Films' The Barn Raisers or their other award-winning documentaries on DVD, click HERE!
Haugen Barn in Leland, Iowa is one of 13 barns featured on the annual Iowa Barn Foundation's All-State
Barn Tour Sept. 22-23. (Photo courtesy Iowa Barn Foundation.)
By Alma Gaul
Quad City Times reporter
Thirteen restored barns in the Quad-City region will be open for free, self-guided tours Sept. 22-23 as part of a statewide tour sponsored by the Iowa Barn Foundation.
Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. both days.
The foundation is an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization founded in 1997 to encourage barn preservation, teach people about Iowa’s agricultural heritage, and to renew pride in this unique heritage.