To order the DVD contact The League of NH Craftsmen.
A League of Our Own is one of 60 films out of 500 submissions selected for screening at the 7th annual NH film festival in Portsmouth, NH on October 11 – 14, 2007.
One-hour documentary film celebrates America’s pioneering craft organization’s 75th anniversary – the League of NH Craftsmen.
Durham, NH, and New York, NY, July 1 , 2007 – New York filmmaker Ken Browne was invited for a summer weekend to New Hampshire 20 summers ago in 1987. Never having visited the Granite state, Browne expected to join thousands of summer visitors who head to New Hampshire to enjoy the mountains, lakes, and old covered bridges. Instead he found himself most intrigued by the crafts tradition he found there, a tradition that has been vital to the state since the founding in 1932 of the League of NH Craftsmen.
He was especially impressed by the pottery of the noted ceramic couple Ed and Mary Scheier. “Something about their work touched me on a very deep level” said Browne who met the Scheiers in 1992. He went on to produce Four Hands One Heart: Ed and Mary Scheier, a nationally released public television film about the Scheiers in 2001. Longtime members of the League of NH Craftsmen, where they worked from 1939 to 1969, the Scheiers later encouraged Browne to document the story of the League, whose 75th anniversary in 2007 looked like the perfect occasion.
The League welcomed the chance to tell their storied history as one of America’s oldest, and most prestigious crafts organizations. The League’s annual summer Craftsmen’s Fair is the oldest continuously running crafs fair in the US, drawing over 35, 000 visitors each year to displays and demonstrations by over 200 state juried craftsmen.
Working closely with the League, Browne traveled frequently to NH, over a period of two years, filming interviews, showing craftsmen at work in studios around the state, filming at the summer Fairs, digitizing hundreds of archival images, and, helping the League raise the funding needed to complete the documentary. The film premiered on May 10, 2007 at the Gala 75th anniversary of the League in Concord, NH, with Governor John Lynch opening the festivities. Longtime League trustee Edith Grodin, responded to the film premier, commenting, “the portrayal of individuals and their passion was masterful – you caught the indomitable spirit of all craftsmen!”
Additional information, review DVD of the film, A LEAGUE OF OUR OWN: NEW HAMPSHIRE AND THE AMERICAN CRAFT MOVEMENT and media stills, can be found: by calling Ken Browne Productions (212) 240-9044, or (917) 856-2244, or emailing ken@kbprods.com.
