Home Hero Background - Saving Brinton

About the Film

When an eccentric small-town collector discovers the showreels of the man who brought moving pictures to the Heartland, he begins a journey to restore the legacy of America’s greatest barnstorming movieman and save these irreplaceable cinematic treasures from turning to dust.

Synopsis

In a farmhouse basement on the Iowa countryside, eccentric collector Mike Zahs makes a remarkable discovery: the showreels of the man who brought moving pictures to America’s Heartland. Among the treasures: rare footage of President Teddy Roosevelt, the first moving images from Burma, a lost relic from magical effects godfather Georges Méliés. These are the films that introduced movies to the world. And they didn’t end up in Iowa by accident. The old nitrate reels are just some of the artifacts that belonged to William Franklin Brinton. From thousands of trinkets, handwritten journals, receipts, posters and catalogs emerges the story of an inventive farmboy who became America’s greatest barnstorming movieman. As Mike uncovers this hidden legacy, he begins a journey to restore the Brinton name that takes us to The Library of Congress, Paris and back for a big screen extravaganza in the same small-town movie theater where Frank first turned on a projector over a century ago. By uniting community through a pride in their living history, Mike embodies a welcome antidote to the breakneck pace of our disposable society. "Saving Brinton" is a portrait of this unlikely Midwestern folk hero, at once a meditation on living simply and a celebration of dreaming big.

UPDATES

Edinburgh International Film Festival – Official Selection

Thrilled to announce our UK Premiere at Edinburgh International Film Festival—the longest continuously-running film festival in the world! Two screenings: June… Read More

NY Times Review – “Celebratory. Poignant.”

Review: In ‘Saving Brinton,’ an Inveterate Accumulator Finds Treasure https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/17/movies/saving-brinton-review.html By Wesley Morris It’s clear five minutes into “Saving Brinton”… Read More

About the Film

UPDATES

Edinburgh International Film Festival – Official Selection

NY Times Review – “Celebratory. Poignant.”

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