Maine Public to broadcast UMM documentary ‘When the Chevy Breaks’

Maine Public Television will broadcast the 2019 University of Maine at Machias student film “When the Chevy Breaks (How Small Towns Fix Big Problems)” at 9 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 20 and at 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb 22.

The film was the third feature-length production to come out of the Downeast Documentary filmmaking course. Alan Kryszak, interdisciplinary fine arts faculty member, directed the film by students Miranda Sutton, Brooke Hachey, Will Rittenhouse, Kayla Cater, Sophie Squire, Eric Darby, Christopher Palmiotto, Trevor Tanski, Jesse Gray, Alex Blackie, Lucas Logan, Abdalla Mostafa, Alexis Morrill and Holly Preston.

The documentary was filmed in Washington County and is a collection of stories, ranging from Machias taking on the world’s most powerful navy (on a Sunday after church) to an amputee father waiting for his son to return from Afghanistan so they can hike Katahdin. The stories are about overcoming obstacles, big and small.

The documentary is part of Maine Public’s Bicentennial Community Films Series. 

The last two films that Kryszak directed also aired on MainePublic/PBS: “Who Made You In America” and “Whatever Works: Exploring Opiate Addiction,” which won an excellence award at the 2018 Docs Without Borders Film Festival.