SEACOAST ONLINE NAMES COMMUNITIES & CONSEQUENCES A TOP 5 SELECTION AT NEW HAMPSHIRE FILM FESTIVAL

Read the article here: http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20081023-ENTERTAIN-810230316

COMMUNITIES & CONSEQUENCES HONORED AS "BEST NH DOCUMENTARY" BY 2008 NEW HAMPSHIRE FILM FESTIVAL

Here is a review by Portsmouth Herald film critic Gina Carbone.

COMMUNITIES & CONSEQUENCES
Fascinating. This 56-minute documentary by writer/producer/director Jay Childs and demographics expert Peter Francese of Exeter is a must-view for everyone in New Hampshire. Especially people here in Portsmouth grappling with the middle school issue.

Francese goes inside small town N.H. to investigate the causes and effects of our graying state. Young people are leaving the state due to various reasons – lack of jobs, lack of affordable housing, lack of adequate schooling (as evidenced in a Moultonborough middle school debate) and a general impression that they are not welcome.

Who knew our gray haired brethren could be such bullies? As a member of the target young professional demographic who is childless by choice, my knee-jerk reaction was to be fine with the exodus. Who wants to be a giver if you’re not an equal receiver of government services? So what if we have an older population? Don’t retired folks deserve some peace and quiet without spending so much on schools they don’t use?

But “Communities and Consequences” changed my mind and made me nervous. Just one concern: Who IS going to respond to the 911 calls of the aging population when young professionals can’t afford to live in your town?

Francese conducts exit interviews with young couples leaving the state, attends city meetings, talks to young professionals’ groups, meets workforce housing developers and gets both sides of the Not In My Back Yard debate. Truly the best kind of documentary.

“Communities and Consequences” is playing again at 11:35 a.m. on Saturday at the Sheraton in Portsmouth. It just won the New Hampshire Documentary Film Award on Thursday night at the 2008 N.H. Film Festival. They got it right!

(Thanks to everyone at the NH Film Festival for honoring our work!)

C&C TO SCREEN AT RED RIVER THEATRE FOR CDRC ANNUAL MEETING
November 5, 5PM. This event is not open to the public.

Upcoming screening of Communities & Consequences with panel discussion following in Nashua, NH on Wednesday, September 17th at 5:30pm. See calendar section for more details.


Communities and Consequences: New Hampshire's Changing Human Ecology is the story of the aging of New Hampshire.

Award-winning director/producer Jay Childs and demographics expert Peter Francese take you inside the world of small town New England to reveal the causes and effects of a graying state. Through the voices of New Hampshire’s citizens, Communities and Consequences uncovers the connections between local decisions and the out-migration of New Hampshire’s working age population.

"This book and the DVD that goes with it are a breath taking description of the results of the building and taxing programs in which we are engaged. If you have interest in your community, the education of our youth and how these are funded it is a don't miss. I think this presentation will dominate the conversation on these subjects for the foreseeable future."