Farmsteaders

Filmmaker Shaena Mallett's compact, exquisite chamber-piece of a documentary distills in less than an hour material that has been chronicled at length by others (especially David Sutherland's The Farmer's Wife), the daily struggles and joys of an American small-farm family. The young Nolans operate a mom-and-pop dairy and cheese operation in southern Ohio. Husband and father Nick (who quotes Nietzsche) was expected to become a businessman but followed a family tradition, seemingly honoring the legacy of his cherished grandfather - who died in a plowing accident - along with Nick's adored wife Celeste (who considers cheese to be "magic"). In a five-year story arc, they raise four children, shepherd their business as it barely stays solvent, maintain a wearying routine of practically nonstop work, and love each other. Trendy issues such as politics, economics, sustainability, and animal rights are not the focus, though sharp-eyed viewers will spot Celeste wearing a T-shirt celebrating the Dixie Chicks, and it's clear that the Nolans stand at the opposite of Big Agra and the factory-farm system so thoroughly demonized in other nonfiction exposes. This is more an ode to those living off the land and their own backbreaking labor as a positive choice, not a grim necessity. Aud: P, H, C.