HOULTON, Maine — The world lens will be focused on Houlton in April as the total solar eclipse makes its last United States showing before crossing the border into New Brunswick.
For that halting moment in time, two New York City-based filmmakers will also be filming the constellation of people, events and cosmic rarity slated to hit this rural Maine town on April 8.
Filmmakers Tom van Kalken and Mia Weinberger wanted to see the total solar eclipse this year. While researching potential places to go, Weinberger stumbled upon Houlton and fell instantly in love.
“I was watching a video of the past eclipse public forum and I was like, ‘I love this town, I love these people and it’s so interesting and cool that it’s the last place to see it in the country,’” she said.
That’s how their planned movie, “A Moment in the Sun,” got started.
“I think it’s exciting that we got their attention and they are wanting to highlight our community in their story,” said Johanna Johnston, executive director of the Southern Aroostook Development Corp., who has spoken to the filmmakers. “And what they are looking for is how a community comes together to put on a big once in a lifetime event like this.”
Van Kalken pointed to a trend in filmmaking that focuses on communities coming together to help each other. The industry is moving away from murders and cold cases, van Kalken said. In keeping with that trend, they want to create a feature-length documentary that looks at how all the townspeople will come together to welcome thousands of visitors to town.
“I love small towns and small town life and I think it’s really fascinating,” he said. “Everybody’s got a story to tell and we’re really excited to meet all these people and find out about their lives.”
The filmmaking duo is heading to Maine this week to attend an eclipse public forum at the Houlton High School on Thursday and to meet with people throughout the weekend. They are hoping to get a broad range of perspectives.
The eclipse is already thrusting the town into the national spotlight and town leaders hope the documentary will do even more for the community.
“From the development side, I hope this can now thrust us into permanent notoriety,” Johnston said. “We want to be known as a wonderful place to visit and welcome people to experience this with open arms and make a lasting memory.”
Weinberger and van Kalken initially reached out to Johnston and the connections to the community began sprouting. They have been meeting with a host of local residents and business owners via Zoom to start learning about the community.
“It’s an opportunity to tell our story and something that will last beyond the eclipse and that’s what we want,” Nancy Ketch, the town’s director of economic and community development, said. “A documentary is going to keep that momentum out there for a while.”
Both filmmakers have recently released award winning films, including Weinberger’s “The Last Hurrah, and van Kalken’s “The Salt of the Earth.”
Weinberger started her film career in comedy, eventually moving into more narrative work. And van Kalken was a writer and producer of a kids science show. They are life partners and this is the first film they will be making together.
Van Kalen was born in the United Kingdom but moved to Brisbane, Australia when he was 10. A filmmaker friend there, Jacob Richardson, along with his company, Film Focus Productions, will shoot the Houlton documentary.
They are looking for local crew members to work the day before and the day of the eclipse, they said. Additionally, they will have an online dropbox for people to upload their own videos from the eclipse for possible use in the film. For more information, visit the film’s webpage, https://www.amomentinthesunmovie.com/
