Iowa Smalltown Blues

Exceptional photography and compelling mini-narratives make this web documentary about the everyday hardships of life in rural Iowa, a very special treat of the brain-candy kind. As agriculture collapses, and drink and drugs battle Christian fundamentalism for the souls of bored youngsters, photographer Danny Wilcox Frazier weaves together a variety of poignant tales in monochrome vision, with the subtle twang of blues guitar lending an air of nostalgia to this melancholy oeuvre. Shedding new light on the effects of the economic downturn for an under-represented, marginal people, Driftless shows that web docs don’t need a whole lot of inetractive tools to engage and fascinate their audiences.