AMERICAN FAIR documentary

American Fair is a tale about farm families in southern Maine and the agricultural heritage of that region.

This feature-length ethnographic doc is about hard-working farm families. A father and son. Mothers and generations. Knowledge of land and beast, honest physical labor, handicraft and winsome beauty.

But the countryside is changing and farming is an increasingly difficult and uncommon way to make a living. Will these hard-working family traditions survive?


In darkness, the carnival trucks arrive: traveling men with strange stories...

At daybreak, the fairgrounds of the York County Agricultural Fair come to life. Fences are mended. Animals, handicrafts, and vegetables set on display. Friendships and rivalries renewed. Cows cleaned and clipped, and country girls rehearse beauty pageant routines.

The fairgrounds are a gathering place. A showcase for beef and dairy cows, a pulling ring for draught horse and oxen. The Grange: the Patrons of Husbandry, the Exhibition Hall and 4H stables. Food, girls. A midway for thrills and stimulation.

American Fair quietly reveals a community of farm families working hard to keep their farming traditions alive, and opens our eyes to a wholesome side of American culture: as people of the earth.