Block 13-Iron Family

About This Program

Feature program, 90 min, Not rated

Iron Family

Audience Choice Award - Best Documentary Feature (tie)

Director: Patrick Longstreth

Documentary Feature, United States, 2020, 90 min, Color

Jazmine Faries, a 32-year-old woman with Down syndrome, is obsessed with soap operas, Barbie dolls, and Matthew McConaughey. For the past five summers, her family has performed her original stage plays for a small audience in their town of Iron River, Michigan. In this sixth season, we follow the creative process of writing, rehearsing, and performing the play.

Family bonds between her brother, Chad, and her mother, Kate, are strengthened and put to the test by the mishaps and chaos of coordinating a production with limited resources. Along the way we see Jazmine's personal struggle for independence, her yearning for a romantic partner, and how a single spark of creativity can spread joy throughout a community.

Great Lakes Connection   

Part of our film takes place in Marquette, Michigan on Lake Superior. The film is set in Iron River, Michigan, a Great Lakes State.

Cast & Crew:

Director: Patrick Longstreth
Producers: Patrick Longstreth, Anne Longstreth, Chad Faries
Key Cast: Jazmine Faries, Chad Faries

Director BiographY

Patrick has a passion for storytelling that shines a light on unsung heroes. His first feature documentary, Iron Family, won the Audience Award at Slamdance 2022.

Since beginning his career in 2001 as an editor on local TV programs and corporate videos, he has worked as a motion graphics artist for Meet the Press and visual effects supervisor for Adam Ruins Everything.

He enjoys living in Savannah, Georgia where he continues to work as visual effects supervisor on films and TV shows while also directing and producing independent documentary films with his wife Anne.

Director Statement

Right now the world needs stories that unite and uplift audiences. With equal parts comedy and drama, a young woman with Down syndrome and her quirky family in Michigan's Upper Peninsula captured my heart. Jazmine's ability to use her imagination to push beyond her personal boundaries inspired me to make my first feature documentary film.

Screenings/Awards:

• Wisconsin Film Festival (Madison, Wisconsin), May 13, 2021, Golden Badger Award
• Atlanta Underground Film Festival (Atlanta, Georgia), September 17, 2021, Best Documentary
• Fresh Coast Film Festival (Marquette, Michigan), October 16, 2021, Best Feature Film
• International Social Change Film Festival (Chicago, Illinois), October 28, 2021
• Slamdance Film Festival (Park City, Utah), January 28, 2022, Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature
• Beloit International Film Festival, (Beloit, Wisconsin), February 27, 2022
• Athens International Film & Video Festival (Athens, Ohio), April 7, 2022
• Capital City Film Festival (Lansing, Michigan), April 16, 2022
• FREEP Film Festival (Detroit, Michigan), April 30, 2022
• Richmond (Virginia) International Film Festival, June 11, 2022
• Dances With Films (Los Angeles, California), June 12, 2022

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