Finally, after five years in the making, the documentary “The Paradox of Seabrook Farms” is finished and will have a sneak preview at the Boston Baltic Film Festival on March 3 at the Emerson Paramount Center. The World Premiere is slated for Millville, NJ on March 16 at the Levoy Theatre at 11 am.
The Dutch-Estonian filmmaker Helga Merits will be attending both of the screenings to introduce the film and participate in a Q&A. At this time, DVDs or streaming are not yet available, but these are planned for the near future for those who cannot attend the in-person events.
Merits has interviewed nearly 50 people for the film, conducted extensive research, and engaged the services of TEB Creative, a London-based production team, and Peter van Os, a Dutch composer who created the original score for the film. Many organizations, including EANC/ERKÜ and the Estonian Foundation for Arts and Letters, and over 120 people have contributed to the funding of this monumental project.
Merits sheds light on the puzzling history of the Seabrook family and their factory workers, people of different countries and cultural backgrounds who had no other place to go to. Nearly one thousand Estonians passed through Seabrook Farms from 1949-1950s on their journey to find a new home in America after they were forced out of their homeland by Russian occupiers and spent years in refugee camp limbo. In a small rural company town of 3,000 people, the Estonians formed their own community, surrounded by immigrants and other refugees from 30 other countries, mostly Japanese Americans who were also seeking a new beginning.
More information is in the recent edition of the Seabrook Film Newsletter: http://tinyurl.com/5n68afse
Marilem (Soodla) Ferentinos
