Hop Film Event: Bad Axe
Bad Axe is a town in the thumb of the state of Michigan, home to a restaurant called Rachel’s. Bad Axe is also the name of the 2022 movie directed by David Siev, an adult son of the Cambodian-Mexican family who owns Rachel’s. During the pandemic, Siev left New York City to return to Bad Axe and join his family’s fight to save their restaurant and to survive in a rural community fractured by racism.
The pandemic has created a multi-layered history—the virus itself, the struggle of businesses to stay open, and anti-Asian bigotry. The film tells all of these stories, and maybe one of hope. It has debuted to critical acclaim and was on the documentary short list for an Academy Award. Rotten Tomatoes has pronounced it 96% “fresh.”
Dartmouth College’s Hopkins Center will host a screening of Bad Axe in Loew Auditorium on Saturday, February 4 at 7:00 pm. (See trailer, above. You may need to double-click.) Director David Siev will be available for a Q & A following the film. Tickets and more information are available here.
———————————————————
Over 2100 subscribers and counting! You’re reading Artful, a blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley, and I hope you’ll subscribe and then share this with your friends and on your social media.
And in case you are wondering . . . Susan B. Apel shuttered a lifelong career as a law professor to continue an interest (since kindergarten) in writing. Her freelance business, The Next Word, includes literary and feature writing; her work has appeared in a variety of lit mags and other publications including Art New England, The Woven Tale Press, The Arts Fuse, and Persimmon Tree. She connects with her neighbors through Artful, her blog about arts and culture in the Upper Valley. She’s in love with the written word.