Filmmaker makes a Documentary - Documentary makes a Future Ham
/The 30-minute documentary that made its TV premiere on Montana Public Broadcasting on Thanksgiving Day was a production by Grace Wolcott, a University of Montana student working with Media Arts students at the school. The film has a one-word title: "Ham." Grace tells it was inspired by a class assignment and, in part, by the small portable shortwave radio she listens to. It's the story of Montana's ham radio community and the reason for radio operators' devotion.
She called the documentary a learning experience with everyone willing to work outside their comfort zones. Grace was producer, director and assistant editor. The production also offered moments of radio magic. In one of her favourite moments, the crew was interviewing a ham in his shack when another ham could be heard on the air -- and then there was yet another. A QSO got under way and each learned that they'd all been interviewed for Grace's film.
“I felt in that moment, even if this documentary isn’t a masterpiece or nobody sees it, I am glad that, just like amateur radio, we are bringing people together.”
So can you guess the ending? Grace, who aspires to be an independent filmmaker, now has another goal. She wants to become a ham. She's already studying with the help of Lance Collister, W7GJ, the amateur seen in the opening scenes of the film.
“Everyone I met in the community is patiently waiting for me to get my license and I will not let them down!”
