Country School: One Room - One Nation

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Rundles present "The Amish Incident" at Story Theater October 11

Documentary producers Tammy & Kelly Rundle filming in Buchanan County for The Amish Incident.

The Story Theater will feature The Amish Incident: Rural Conflict & Compromise, a film by Mid-America Emmy-nominated filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films on Friday, October 11th at 7:00 p.m. during the 20th Annual Iowa Country Schools Preservation Conference. The Rundles will take part in Q&A following the screening. 

When local school officials decide to bus Amish children into town schools in November of 1965, a newspaper photographer captures an iconic image of the kids fleeing from authorities into a nearby cornfield. The incident and the photograph ignite a firestorm of arrests, fines, and controversy leading to a unique precedent-setting covenant between the "Plain People" and the State of Iowa. The Amish Incident weaves interviews with key people in the story with newly discovered archival materials and the beautiful photographs of David Marvitz to tell a fascinating and memorable true tale of rural conflict and compromise.

Art Sensor prepares for his interview in The Amish Incident with producer Tammy Rundle looking on.

The film won a Silver Eddy Award at the Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival, and was an official selection at the Oneota Film Festival. It also received the Scholarship and Artistry Award from the Country School Association of America.

With the fiscal sponsorship of The Moline Foundation, The Amish Incident: Rural Conflict and Compromise was partially funded by a grant from Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area, and from Humanities Iowa.

Two other films will screen during the evening program--Roll Call on the Prairie: A collection of oral stories recalling rural school life and times presented by Mary Doak, Grundy Center Historical Society; and Iowa’s Unsung Prairie Transformation to Farms and One-Room Schools 1870-1900 presented by Sandra Host. The Story Theater and Grand Opera House is located at 512 Broad Street in Story City, Iowa.

The 20th Annual Iowa Country Schools Preservation Conference runs October 11-12, 2019.  Full registration $58, ala carte registration available.  Contact Kate Feil, Director of the Story City Historical Society at storycityhistory@gmail.com or 515-460-1749 or Bill Sherman, Preservation Iowa, at wsherman41@gmail.com or 515-278-2242.

Kelly and Tammy Rundle are the producers of a dozen award-winning documentaries including the Lost Nation: The Ioway 1, 2 & 3 series, Villisca: Living with a Mystery, The Barn Raisers, Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg, and four regional Emmy® nominated films including Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, River to River: Iowa’s Forgotten Highway 6, and Letters Home to Hero Street. Fourth Wall Films is an independent film and video production company formerly based in Los Angeles and now based in the Quad Cities.  

"The Amish Incident" Presented at Black Hawk College's Lifelong Learners Luncheon Sept. 5

Kelly Rundle and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films will present The Amish Incident: Rural Conflict and Compromise on Thursday, September 5 at the Black Hawk Lifelong Learners Luncheon at the Quad City Botanical Center, 2525 4th Avenue, Rock Island, Illinois.  The program includes lunch at 11:30AM, the 25-minute award-winning film and discussion.  The fee is $23 (and includes admission to the Botanical Center).  The last day to register is August 30th. To make reservations, contact 309-796-8223 courvilleb@bhc.edu

The Des Moines Register photograph that ignited a firestorm of publicity.

The documentary film tells the true story of Buchanan County, Iowa school officials who decide to bus Amish children into town schools in November of 1965. A newspaper photographer captures an iconic image of the kids fleeing from authorities into a nearby cornfield. The incident and the photograph ignite a firestorm of arrests, fines, and controversy leading to a unique precedent-setting covenant between the "Plain People" and the State of Iowa. The Amish Incident weaves interviews with key people in the story with newly discovered archival materials and photographs to tell a fascinating and memorable true tale of rural conflict and compromise.

The film won a Silver Eddy Award at the Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival, and was an official selection at the Oneota Film Festival. It also received the Scholarship and Artistry Award from the Country School Association of America.

With the fiscal sponsorship of The Moline Foundation, The Amish Incident: Rural Conflict and Compromise was partially funded by a grant from Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area, and from Humanities Iowa.

Kelly and Tammy Rundle are the producers of a dozen award-winning documentaries including the Lost Nation: The Ioway 1, 2 & 3 series, Villisca: Living with a Mystery, The Barn Raisers, Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg, and four regional Emmy® nominated films including Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, River to River: Iowa’s Forgotten Highway 6, and Letters Home to Hero Street. Fourth Wall Films is an independent film and video production company formerly based in Los Angeles and now based in the Quad Cities. 

“The Amish Incident” exploring Pivotal 1965 Amish School Controversy Presented at Marengo Library July 21

The Amish Incident: Rural Conflict & Compromise, the latest film by Mid-America Emmy-nominated filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films will screen on Sunday, July 21 at 1:00 p.m. at the Marengo Public Library, 235 E. Hilton Street, Marengo, Iowa. The event is free to the public and sponsored by the Friends of the Marengo Public Library Foundation.The Rundles will take part in Q&A following the screening.

When local school officials decide to bus Amish children into town schools in November of 1965, a newspaper photographer captures an iconic image of the kids fleeing from authorities into a nearby cornfield. The incident and the photograph ignite a firestorm of arrests, fines, and controversy leading to a unique precedent-setting covenant between the "Plain People" and the State of Iowa. The Amish Incident weaves interviews with key people in the story with newly discovered archival materials and photographs to tell a fascinating and memorable true tale of rural conflict and compromise.

“I go to the Amish community to talk to an Amish patriarch. We’re talking in a room with no lights. There’s no water. There are lanterns around. They didn’t have telephones. And he’s talking about the school thing,” said Gene Raffensperger, the Eastern Iowa reporter for the Des Moines Register at the time, “I never walked into one just like that and I’m saying to myself, ‘My God, this is the jet age colliding with horse and buggy.”

The film won a Silver Eddy Award at the Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival, and was an official selection at the Oneota Film Festival. It also received the Scholarship and Artistry Award from the Country School Association of America.

With the fiscal sponsorship of The Moline Foundation, The Amish Incident: Rural Conflict and Compromise was partially funded by a grant from Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area, and from Humanities Iowa.

“As we began to think about how to tell the story, we were surprised that it wasn't just going to be a film about a conflict with the Amish,” said Director Kelly Rundle. “It's equally a film about journalism, and how reporting--in this case, one photograph--can crystallize public opinion on a policy issue.”

Kelly and Tammy Rundle are the producers of a dozen award-winning documentaries including the Lost Nation: The Ioway 1, 2 & 3 series, Villisca: Living with a Mystery, The Barn Raisers, Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg, and four regional Emmy® nominated films including Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, River to River: Iowa’s Forgotten Highway 6, and Letters Home to Hero Street. Fourth Wall Films is an independent film and video production company formerly based in Los Angeles and now based in the Quad Cities. 

 

Country School Association of America's 2019 Conference takes place in Maryland June 16-19

The Drayden African-American Schoolhouse in Drayden, MD is one of the nation's best-preserved one-room African-American schoolhouses.

This year's Country School Association of America Conference will be held Sunday, June 16 through Wednesday, June 19, 2019, less than an hour from Washington, D.C. and will "take a countrywide look at the American icons that once dotted the countryside."

According to the CSAA website: "Because of our proximity to the nation's capital the conference will focus on country schools not only on the local level but all the way up to national level, including important regional initiatives such as Rosenwald schools." 

The conference features two keynote addresses, diverse presentation sessions, excursions and evening programming.

The opening keynote speaker at the conference is Stephanie Deutsch who will speak on THE IMPACT OF ROSENWALD SCHOOLS: A HISTORICAL AND PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE.  She is the author, "You Need a Schoolhouse: Booker T. Washington", "Julius Rosenwald and the Building of Schools for the Segregated South".

Tuesday's keynote speaker is Keynote is Campbell Scribner, PhD Assistant Professor of Education, University of Maryland who will speak on THE MISUNDERSTOOD MEANING OF ONE ROOM SCHOOLS AND THE LEGACY OF CONSOLIDATION.

Fourth Wall Films' The Amish Incident: Rural Conflict and Compromise received the 2019 Scholarship & Artistry Award from the Country School Association of America which will be announced at the conference.

The 20th Annual CSAA Conference will be held June 14-17, 2020 in Golden Colorado.

The CSAA is an non-profit, national organization dedicated to preserving memories and scholarship of the country school.  The organization is designed to offer all interested individuals with a professional community focused on early American schools, preservation, education, and curriculum. The CSAA prides itself on connecting research and practice for anyone passionate about our country schools. 

For more information and to join the CSAA, visit https://www.countryschoolassociation.org/

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To order a copy of the award-winning The Amish Incident: Rural Conflict & Compromise on DVD, visit https://www.fourthwallfilms.com/dvds.htm.  The DVD features The Amish Incident film by Emmy-nominated Fourth Wall Films, additional interview comments and filmmakers' commentary track.

Fourth Wall Films' Country School: One Room - One Nation is an award-winning and Emmy-nominated documentary. To order the DVD visit: https://www.fourthwallfilms.com/dvds.htm.

 

 

Tales of the Heartland: The Rundles Interpret Country Life Through Film

By Donald Wentworth
Special to Maquoketa Sentinal-Press, Country Life

Responsibility. It’s a mandatory and key component in every film created by Fourth Wall Films of Moline, Illinois. Kelly and Tammy Rundle, husband and wife owners, operate the company from their home, but, their work takes them all over the country.

Those cross-country trips have included stops in Jackson, Clinton and Dubuque counties, where they filmed scenes for their regional Emmy-nominated documentary "Country School: One Room - One Nation" and "The Barn Raisers".

When asked why their focus was the Midwest, Tammy replied, “There are amazing little stories buried in the soil of the Midwest.”

To read the rest of the story, click HERE!

Country School: One Room – One Nation was funded in part by Humanities Iowa, Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area, the Wisconsin Humanities Council, Kansas Humanities Council, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Fourth Wall Films' Country School: One Room - One Nation is an award-winning and Emmy-nominated documentary. To order the DVD visit: https://www.fourthwallfilms.com/dvds.htm.

Quad Cities' Forest Grove School No. 5 Benefit Screening of "Country School: One Room - One Nation" June 1

You are invited to a special benefit screening event for the Quad Cities own Forest Grove School No. 5 on Saturday, June 1 at 6:30PM!

This special evening includes a screening of the Mid-America Emmy-nominated COUNTRY SCHOOL: ONE ROOM - ONE NATION by Kelly & Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, refreshments, tour, Q&A after the film, and more! Money raised benefits the school and will be used for final interior restoration.

Tickets are $50/pp and support a great cause! Reserve at www.brownpapertickets.com. 

Forest Grove No. 5 is located at 24040 Forest Grove Drive, Bettendorf, IA. We will see you 'at school' on Saturday. Don't be tardy!

 

Looking for great documentaries, independent, foreign, classic and other noteworthy films in the Quad-Cities area? Visit QCFilmBlog.com for the latest screenings and special film events.

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Forest Grove Schoolhouse Fundraising Event Features Emmy® Nominated "Country School: One Room – One Nation” June 1

Forest Grove Schoolhouse No. 5 is nearing the completion of restoration this year.

The newly restored Forest Grove School No. 5 will open its doors to the public for a special fundraising event on Saturday, June 1 at 6:15 p.m. and feature the Emmy® nominated documentary Country School: One Room – One Nation by Quad City filmmakers Tammy and Kelly Rundle of Fourth Wall Films. This will be the first time the film has screened in a country school.  The event includes refreshments, the film, and Talk Back with the Rundles.  

Tickets are $50 and can be purchased online at Brown Paper Tickets (https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/4245519 ). Proceeds benefit Forest Grove Schoolhouse Preservation.  Reservations are due by noon on June 1st. 

Filmmakers Kelly & Tammy Rundle pose outside Forest Grove school after filming for "Country School" in 2009.

Forest Grove School was built in 1873 and closed in 1957.  Restoration began in 2012 and is being completed in 2019.  The school will be opened as a museum and for seasonal events later this year. 

Forest Grove School Preservation is excited to welcome Tammy & Kelly Rundle and Fourth Wall Films to Forest Grove School to fulfill a longtime dream of screening this award-winning documentary inside a one-room schoolhouse.  The number of tickets is limited to 40, so we encourage guests to reserve tickets early in the sales period. 

Sharon Andresen, Forest Grove project coordinator, and volunteer Kris Albert.

"We are thrilled to screen the film in the newly restored Forest Grove Schoolhouse," said producer Tammy Rundle.  "It has been such an exciting experience to watch Forest Grove come back to life with the help of so many dedicated and hard-working visionaries, volunteers, contractors, artisans, donors, former teachers and former students.  It is truly an inspiration and we are happy to be a part of this very special fundraising event."

The bell tower installation.

Country School: One Room – One Nation tells the dramatic true story of the life, death, and rebirth of one-room schools in the Upper Midwest.  Forest Grove School circa 2009 is featured in the film, before the vision of restoring the historic site was conceived.

Film critic Linda Cook, Quad City Times, gave the film 4-out-of-4 stars and wrote: "Another documentary gem...vivid and fascinating."

Country School: One Room – One Nation received a Mid-America Emmy® nomination in 2012.  The documentary has received numerous awards at film festivals, screened over 100 times all over the country, was broadcast on PBS stations and released nationally on DVD.

The Rundles have been documenting the restoration of Forest Grove Schoolhouse since the project began in 2012.

Forest Grove Schoolhouse No. 5 is located at 24040 Forest Grove Drive, Bettendorf, Iowa.  Overflow parking and shuttle will be available from Trinity Lutheran Church at 18137 Criswell St., Pleasant Valley, IA 52767.  Doors will open for the event at 6:15 PM.  Ticket price of $50 includes admission and refreshments. 

Forest Grove School Preservation is a 501©3 charitable organization dedicated to preserving and telling the history of rural education through the historic rehabilitation of Forest Grove Schoolhouse No. 5. Visit ForestGroveSchool.org for more information.

Installing the Forest Grove's blackboards.

Country School: One Room – One Nation was funded in part by Humanities Iowa, Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area, the Wisconsin Humanities Council, Kansas Humanities Council, and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Silver Eddy Awarded to "The Amish Incident" by Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival

The Amish Incident: Rural Conflict & Compromise, produced by Mid-America Emmy nominated filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle of Fourth Wall Films, won a Silver Eddy at the 2019 Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival Saturday evening, April 13.

"We share this honor with David Marvitz whose beautiful photography is featured in the film," said director Kelly Rundle.

"We are honored that The Amish Incident was included with two excellent films in the Professional Documentary category: The Collins Story: Connecting the Moon to the Earth - Moon Talk, and Wine Diamonds, which won the Gold Eddy," said producer Tammy Rundle.  "We are very grateful to the CRIFF."

Through the project’s fiscal sponsor, The Moline Foundation, The Amish Incident: Rural Conflict and Compromise was partially funded by a grant from Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area and Humanities Iowa.  Filming took place in Fayette, Buchanan and Polk Counties, all within the SSNHA 37-county region in Northeast Iowa.  The views and opinions expressed by this program do not necessarily reflect those of Humanities Iowa or Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area.

Now you can view the award-winning The Amish Incident online at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/amishmovie.

Or, order your DVD copy of The Amish Incident: Rural Conflict & Compromise!  The DVD features The Amish Incident film by Emmy-nominated Fourth Wall Films, additional interview comments and filmmakers' commentary track.  Place your order here: AMISH INCIDENT DVD!

"The Amish Incident" Receives "Scholarship & Artistry Award" from CSAA

We are pleased to announce that The Amish Incident: Rural Conflict and Compromise has received the Scholarship & Artistry Award from the Country School Association of America.

We are grateful for for this important recognition for the film.  Our thanks to photographer David Marvitz whose beautiful images helped to tell this complicated story visually.

Film Synopsis: 

When local school officials decide to bus Amish children into town schools in November of 1965, a newspaper photographer captures an iconic image of the kids fleeing from authorities into a nearby cornfield. The incident and the photograph ignite a firestorm of arrests, fines, and controversy leading to a unique precedent-setting covenant between the "Plain People" and the State of Iowa. The Amish Incident weaves interviews with key people in the story with newly discovered archival materials and photographs to tell a fascinating and memorable true tale of rural conflict and compromise.

Through the project’s fiscal sponsor, The Moline Foundation, The Amish Incident: Rural Conflict and Compromise was partially funded by a grant from SSNHA.  Filming took place in Fayette, Buchanan and Polk Counties, all within the SSNHA 37-county region in Northeast Iowa.  The views and opinions expressed by this program do not necessarily reflect those of Silos and Smokestacks National Heritage Area.

Kelly and Tammy Rundle are the producers of twelve award-winning documentaries including the Lost Nation: The Ioway 1, 2 & 3 series, Villisca: Living with a Mystery, Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg (co-produced with Garry McGee), and four Emmy® nominated films including Good Earth: Awakening the Silent City, River to River: Iowa’s Forgotten Highway 6, and Letters Home to Hero Street (co-produced with WQPT-PBS). Fourth Wall Films is an award-winning independent film and video production company formerly based in Los Angeles and now located in the Quad Cities.  

Order your DVD copy of The Amish Incident: Rural Conflict & Compromise!  The DVD features The Amish Incident film by Emmy-nominated Fourth Wall Films, additional interview comments and filmmakers' commentary track.

Place your order here: AMISH INCIDENT DVD!

Fourth Wall Films' Country School: One Room - One Nation is an award-winning and Emmy-nominated documentary. To order the DVD visit: https://www.fourthwallfilms.com/dvds.htm.