Documentary Film Series: One Big Home

No Rating (2016)

Gentrification comes in many forms. On the tiny island of Martha’s Vineyard, where presidents and celebrities vacation, trophy homes threaten to destroy the island’s unique character.

12 years in the making, One Big Home follows one carpenter’s journey to understand the trend toward giant houses. When he feels complicit in wrecking the place he calls home, he takes off his tool belt and picks up a camera. Bumping up against angry homeowners and builders who look the other way, he works with his community and attempts to pass a new bylaw to limit house size.

Directed and produced by Thomas Bena. He is a graduate of UMass Amherst and former intern at the Australian Institute of Marine Science before landing on Martha's Vineyard, where he learned to work as a carpenter. In 2001, he enlisted the help of friends and family and founded the Martha's Vineyard Film Festival. 

One Big Home has been screened across the globe and citizens in Honolulu and Truro have used the film to galvanize support for new bylaws limiting house size. Earlier this year, it played at the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C.

Directly after the screening will be a Q&A with the director via Skype from Martha's Vineyard.

Free and open to all
Sponsored by Friends of Barrington Public Library

Event Location: 
Salem Family Auditorium (Second Floor)
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