metzler-2

When I think of independent film, I adoringly think of films like "Truth or Consequences". That is, they are films that try to do something different, are uncompromising (ideally in a good way), and express a unique, personal vision. This film has all of that in spades and is also both an intriguing piece of art and an interesting film to watch and experience.

If you're looking for a standard PBS doc this might not be the film for you, but if you like stories of different sorts of people, odd places and philosophical questions then you're in luck here. It's a wonderful, timeless film that is waiting to be discovered.

Acorns. Walnuts. Pecans. Cashews. Uh, Elizabeth Tashjian?

Well, it all depends on how you see things doesn't it? In the world that Don Bernier delightfully lets play across the screen, you have to wonder, who's crazier, the nut lady in the dilapidated mansion? Or us as a society that always seems to want to shutter the weird, the unusual, and the strange, all under the guise that if you don't fit in, then you must be crazy.

This wonderfully charming film tells the dreamy story of an immigrant girl, struck by a fascination with nuts, whose zest and entrepreneurial drive then leads her to turn her huge house into a showcase for "Nuts of the world," and "Voila!" you have your classic American roadside attraction. Of course, the story doesn't end there, as no decent community, let alone a tony town in Connecticut, would ever allow such a thing to continue.

But to see how this sad, but fun story winds up, you'll have to go watch the film. No doubt, you'll be as enamored as I and the many others in the audience were when I saw it at the San Francisco Documentary Festival.