VILLISCA – “The Barn Raisers,” a new documentary by Mid-America Emmy nominated filmmakers Kelly and Tammy Rundle (“Villisca: Living with a Mystery”) of Fourth Wall Films will be showcased at Villisca Heritage Day, Sunday, July 1. The award-winning film will screen at 2 p.m. at the Villisca Wellness Center, 219 Central Ave. and benefit the Villisca Historical Society and its efforts to preserve local history. The filmmakers will take part in a Q&A following the film. Tickets are $8. Children 12 and under are free. The day will feature other festivities on Sunday, including an all church service in the park, kids activities, Villisca Public Library open house, food, fun, talent show and the town’s spectacular Fourth of July fireworks display in the evening.
A crowd-pleaser at film festivals, “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 these remnants from America’s rural past are still here to be interpreted and experienced.
“‘The Barn Raisers’ feels like a hymn to the solemn beauty and importance of these buildings,” said entertainment editor Jonathan Turner of the Dispatch-Argus.
Film critic Linda Cook, Quad City Times, gave “The Barn Raisers” four-out-of-four stars.
Numerous Iowa barns are featured in the documentary, including the iconic Tyden No. 6 barn located in Dougherty; Iowa’s oldest barn located in St. Donatus; the barn on the C.G. Good Farm in Ogden where the famous Belgian Stallion Farceur is buried; the Flynn barn at Living History Farms; architect/builder Benton Steele’s last remaining round barn in Iowa and many others.
In addition to Iowa, “The Barn Raisers” was filmed in Kansas, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin.
“These barns are a part of the history of American immigration,” said artist Jeremy Marlow who owns the Marlow-Saak barn located in Waukon. The barn is featured on the film’s poster. “It’s really sad to see these things fall down at an alarming rate.”
It is estimated Iowa loses more than 1,000 vintage barns annually.
The Villisca Historical Society Inc. (VHSI) collects, preserves and interprets historical materials, images and artifacts to shed light on the natural, civil and political history of the city of Villisca. VHSI develops programs and provides information via its membership quarterly newsletter, website VilliscaHistory.org, blog and other social media, to promote public awareness, scholarly research and appreciation of Villisca’s unique history. VHSI fosters excellence and leadership, historical inquiry, believing that an understanding of the past illuminates the present and gives vision to the future.