Staff Report
The First Presbyterian Church of Andes was the perfect venue for a screening of Calico Rebellion on Friday evening, February 6th. Approximatelly 90 mostly locals assembled to see this long-awaited documentary film directed and produced by Victoria Kupchinetsky* focusing on the 1845 Anti-Rent War event on Dingle Hill in Andes, but more than that: on the mythical and political origins and reverberations of the movement through history. Exhilaration was the prevailing emotion, clearly felt and expressed during the Q and A following the film by those vivid local storytellers from our community who appeared in the film: Laurie McIntosh, Jim Andrews, Buffy Calvert, Burr Hubbell, Rudd Hubbell, Donnie Liddle, Doug Liddle, MaryAnn Greenfield, and by the exuberant and highly appreciative audience members.
As the callicorebellion.com website recounts, “In mid-19th century, NY State farmers were held in indentured servitude by absent aristocratic landlords who exploited their labor and refused to sell them the land. Tired of paying rent for the land they toiled on but could not own, the farmers banded together to fight the injustice. Although none were Native American, they called themselves Calico Indians, invoking a strong connection to Boston Tea Party protestors in the struggle for American independence.
“The uprising paved the way to land reform across America and the creation of Abraham Lincoln’s Republican Party. Two of the 5 committee members that formed the Republican party in 1854—the anti-slavery party of “free soil and free men,” were activists of the Anti-Rent Movement from this area.”
Regarding the film itself, the website says it best:
“Calico Rebellion weaves together verité scenes, interviews, historical archive and animation, to bring to light pressing social, political and class issues….on-screen myth is intertwined with reality-unfolding slowly…like a dream imbued with the wildness of nature itself.”
*Misha Gutkin, producer; Joe Bender, cinematographer; Matvey Kulakov, editor; Peter Hutchinson, producer; Maxim Pozdorovkin, executive producer
If you missed this screening, the one shown last Summer at Delhi College or the showing in Oneonta, check the website—where you can view a trailer—for details on upcoming screenings.
We wondered how the church was able to offer such a comprehensive set-up. It turns out that church member Kari-Astrid Haugeto (the Gazette’s layout editor) church member lent out her “theater” of speakers, soundboard, and projector. Her event audio setup usually includes a 100-inch screen which she loans for movies shown in the back of the church. For the Calico Rebellion, she found a 200-inch screen for the sanctuary, which gave the space movie theater ambiance.~
NOTE: The editors recommend checking out the Andes Library’s local history collection (to your right as you enter) for books, including the children’s book Calico and Tin Horns by Candace Christiansen, to learn more about this subject.~
