Three Maine films have been nominated for the New England Emmy Award.
A Chemical Reaction
Director Brett Plymale has received notification of three Emmy nominations for the film A Chemical Reaction about the first town in North America to ban lawn and garden pesticides.
The film, shot and edited during 2008-2010, had its broadcast premiere on Maine Public Television in November of 2010 making it eligible for the regional Emmy Awards, which will be presented on May 14. The film will be up for “Best Documentary,” “Best Editing,” and “Best Videography.”
“Being nominated by New England’s chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is a great opportunity to draw more attention to this important story,” said Plymale, who has been nominated several times previously for Emmys. “From the moment we started shooting this film I felt honored to be a part of this amazing story and this recognition really goes to all the people out there standing up for what they believe in.”
The award ceremony will come just nine days after the 20th anniversary of Hudson, Quebec’s, historic ban on lawn and garden pesticides. Sued by ChemLawn (now TruGreen), the town fought back all the way to the Canadian Supreme Court — where it won in an historic 9-0 decision in June of 2001.
Twenty years from the ban and a decade from the court decision, Hudson’s story still stands as probably the most epic example of the power of community activism anywhere in North America.
Protecting the Nature of Maine
Richard Kane of Kane-Lewis Productions (http://www.kanelewis.com) was nominated for a New England Emmy Award Tuesday evening, April 12, 2011 in Boston by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences at the 34th New England Emmy Award Nomination Party. Kane was nominated as Producer, Director, Director of Photography and Editor of the documentary Protecting the Nature of Maine which was nominated in the Outstanding Environmental Program category for its 2010 broadcast on Maine Public Broadcasting Network’s MPBN Community Films series produced by Laura Schenck. See http://www.mpbn.net/Television/MPBNCommunityFilms.aspx The Emmy Awards ceremony will be held on May 14, 2011 in Boston.
Stephen Pace: Maine Master
Richard Kane received a second New England Emmy nomination last Tuesday evening for the latest episode of his Maine Masters’ series http://www.mainemasters.com on the abstract expressionist painter Stephen Pace of Stonington, Maine and New York City. The documentary, nominated in the Outstanding Arts/Entertainment Program category, was co-directed by Paul Koronkiewicz of New York. Co-producers included Koronkievicz, artist Robert Shetterly, and art author Carl Little. The series sponsor is the Union of Maine Visual Artists http://www.umvaonline.org