Out in the Silence

So you're a filmmaker born in small rural town out in western Pennsylvania. Although you're currently residing in a distant city, you still happen to be very fond of said small town... so much so that now that you've decided to get married you've chosen to publicly announce the good news in your hometown paper. Sounds reasonable enough, no? So what could possibly go wrong ?...

Well, for starters maybe your hometown happens to be ultra-conservative, or it could be that it's just rural... (or perhaps somewhere in between the two ). And, let's say for arguments sake the marriage you've just announced in the paper is to another man ... Not exactly the type of news you'd imagine a 'traditional' community like western Pennsylvania's Oil City might take lightly, but perhaps we should be get back to that whole thing about being a filmmaker again ? Out in the Silence is a new documentary film by director Joe Wilson chronicling a three year chain of events following his somewhat controversial marriage announcement in his hometown paper...

I swear watching C. J. in this clip is almost like looking into a mirror (in a metaphorical sense of course... and maybe minus the rural town angsts ). C. J. was one of a number of Oil City residents who contacted Joe following his announcement... and to be honest, I really found his tale quite shocking (especially for the sheer lack of tolerance or understanding on the part of town residents). Anyhow, this movie is currently in the screening phase with shows in Maryland and Pittsburgh coming up in a couple weeks. I'm really hoping for a DVD release soon though, I really find these types of small-town America documentaries strangely fascinating ...