Clear Cut: The Story of Philomath, Oregon

Running time: 72 mins

Lumber baron Rex Clemens left a legacy to his small rural hometown of Philomath?every high school graduate receives a generous college scholarship. But after forty years and thousands of scholarships, Steve Lowther, Rex?s nephew, and overseer of his trust fund, is on a mission: to correct the ?political correctness? of the high school. And unless the person he blames goes?the Superintendent?the scholarship program will be terminated.

Clear Cut is a compelling portrait of today?s clash of values and who controls what our children are being taught. The issues which Lowther is fighting over are the very ones in today?s headlines: evolution vs. creative design, gay rights, ?family values.? And what started out as a local issue in Philomath?whose name, ironically, means ?Love of Learning??reverberated nationally hitting the front pages of the Wall Street Journal and the L.A. Times, as well as on CNN and Fox News.

Peter Richardson?s Clear Cut: The Story of Philomath, Oregon serves as a microcosm for the vast ideological divisions within our country. Passionate but congenial, Lowther blames the urban outsiders for threatening the minds of the town?s impressionable youth and pleads his case to those who made the community the bulwark of tradition that he seeks to maintain. And caught between the culture wars, it is the innocent students who ultimately will be the ones to suffer.

Sandy Wolf

Preceded by: The Braggart; dir. David Andalman; 13min; First she said she was in a movie. Then she said she had cancer. And now... She is the girl who cried wolf.

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