Screening of 'One Big Home,' Q&A With Director Offered October 8

Build.In.Kind/East Hampton and Wainscott Heritage Project will host a free screening of “One Big Home,” a documentary about the impacts of super-sized residences on communities, this Saturday, October 8, at LTV in Wainscott.

A discussion and Q&A with the filmmaker, Thomas Bena, and other guests will follow.

“One Big Home” spans more than a decade and documents the story of how a carpenter, Bena, who worked on the construction of big houses in the town of Chilmark on Martha’s Vineyard grew concerned about the impact and decided to take action.

“Trading in his tool belt for a video camera, he engaged the community through listening and debate, built a consensus, and created a coalition of individuals committed to realizing more thoughtful house size and land use practices that respected and protected their town’s history, character, quality of life, affordability, and environment, while sustaining a vibrant economy,” the film’s synopsis reads.

“Thomas Bena fairly and objectively approaches issues of unrestrained development by including various and diverging points of view and tussling with his own perspectives and potential biases,” said Esperanza Leon, a co-founder of Wainscott Heritage Project. “It is easy and perhaps comforting to draw parallels between Martha’s Vineyard and the East End. What the film does best is to reassure any community threatened by a loss of character and sense of place that it is possible to slow or even halt that process and restore some balance.”

Jaine Mehring, the founder of Build.In.Kind/East Hampton, added: “Though a deeply local and personal story, I think this movie will resonate broadly here in East Hampton as we all grapple with the impact of intensifying overdevelopment on our local community and our land. The film is a testament to how the active engagement of citizens can achieve constructive change.”

Doors will open at 3:45 p.m. on Saturday, October 8, at LTV Studios at 75 Industrial Road in Wainscott. Admission is free and advance registration is encouraged via wainscottheritageproject.org.