The story of my coming home to Alabama in the year 2000 is one that has been told many times. My journey home started in the spring of 2000 on the corner of 38th Street and 8th Avenue in New York City. It was there that the call to adventure hit me squarely on the head. It was the moment I realized that the hand-embroidered shirts I’d been making were really little more than a quilting stitch. In that moment, I realized that this was something I learned in my childhood and, in the same moment, I understood that I wanted to go back to the community of my childhood in North Alabama. It was clear to me that I wanted to talk to my grandmother and the other ladies like her who had quilted their whole lives; I wanted to make a film about why people made quilts, and I wanted to make a small collection of hand-quilted t-shirts.
Stitch is that film. The digital version you can watch below includes a 4-minute trailer at the beginning and before the 22-minute documentary. It was played at the Hotel Chelsea as that first collection of 200 one-of-a-kind t-shirts was presented during Fashion Week in February of 2001. The film, shot in January of 2001, is now 15 years old and is the result of 35 hours of digital interviews, 4 rolls of Super-8 film, 462 miles in an old blue Chevy pickup truck, 1 prop plane, and a crew of three that rambled around (and above) Lauderdale and Colbert counties in Northwest Alabama. Additionally, there were approximately 10 transatlantic flights from 1999 to 2001, untold hours in editing suites, and as many hours on-and-around a sound board. Not a single person involved in the making of this film got paid.
Watching the trailer and the film today, it’s clear that a key part of my journey home also has to do with this group of friends and neighbors who are now spread across the globe and the heavens. Many of the ladies and gentlemen interviewed by us have since passed away, including my own grandmother. I’m proud that a small part of these beautiful stories—and way of life—are captured in this little film. Every single one of our interviewees said, “Things were different back then; it’s not like it is today.” How true that statement becomes even 15 years later.
The camera operator and cinematographer—and my dear friend—Sissi Farassat has become a world-renowned artist.
Fish Film, who supported me endlessly—and were also dear friends of my heart—has since closed.
The period during the making of this film, and just before, were a time of great chaos in my life but also of great creativity, beauty, and joy. I’ll always look back to this as one of the best times of my life.
I’m a better designer today for having worked with all the crew at Fish Film and my dear friend Sissi.
I’m grateful to one and all,
xoNatalie
CREDITS:
Concept and Direction: Alabama Chanin
Assistant to Director: Jakob Glatz
Camera: Sissi Farassat and Jacob Glatz
Cut: Gerd Berner
Trailer Editor: Martin Matusiak
Soundtrack: Gammon
Original Song “Stitches”: Khan
Sound Mix: Markus Pochinger
Sound Studio: Soundtrack
Creative Direction: Project Alabama
Graphics: Andrea Jirez and Florian Schmeiser
Stock Material: Lloyd Llewellyn
Producer: Josef Bacher
Chief Trouble Maker: Paul Graves
Positive Criticism: Florian Kehrer
Production Assistant: Agatha Whitechapel and Karen Gruber
Executive Producer: Igor Orovac
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