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October Country is a beautifully rendered portrait of an American family struggling for stability while haunted
by the ghosts of war, teen pregnancy, foster care and child abuse. A collaboration between filmmaker
Michael Palmieri and photographer and family member Donal Mosher, this vibrant and penetrating
documentary examines the forces that unsettle the working poor and the violence that lurks beneath the
surface of American life.
Every family has its ghosts. The Mosher family has more than most. Shot over a year from one Halloween
to the next, the film creates a stunning cinematic portrait of a family who are unique but also sadly
representative of the struggles of America's working class. The film was created to be both a universal story
of family struggle and a socially conscious portrait of compelling, articulate individuals grappling with the
forces that tear at their homes and relationships.
Combining the access only available to a family member with an intimate visual style of a filmmaker
encountering the family's dynamics for the first time, the film gives a deeply personal voice to the national
issues of economic instability, domestic abuse, war trauma, and sexual molestation. As the Moshers do their
best to confront their ghosts, we confront the broader issues that haunt us all in the continued struggle for
the American Dream.