Beston Society to produce documentary

The Henry Beston Society is going to the movies -- into the business of making movies, that is.

The Cape Cod-based non-profit organization has agreed to work with Chatham's Christopher Seufert and his company, Mooncusser Films, on a documentary film about the legacy of Henry Beston and his classic nature book, The Outermost House, and how the World War I ambulance driver turned naturalist’s book became a motivating force behind the creation of one of the crown jewels of New England National Parks – the Cape Cod National Seashore.

The script, for the still unnamed documentary, will be based on my book, Henry Beston’s Cape Cod, published in 2003. Available through Infinity Publishing, it is also the basis for my photo lectures, which have been presented to thousands of people on Cape Cod and across New England since 2001. The Beston Society archives include numerous photographs that the non-profit group has collected over the years, along with the photographs from the late Nan Turner Waldron, author of the book Journey to Outermost House.

Seufert is no stranger to documentary films. He produced award-winning films with the likes of journalist Walter Cronkite (related links here, here and here), actress Julie Harris (related links here and here), illustrator Edward Gorey, musician Suzanne Vega, and filmmaker Albert Maysles. His works have been shown on PBS, The History Channel and The Discovery Channel.

Seufert, 42, is a professional photographer and filmmaker, and was fortunate enough to qualify for a couple of residencies in the dune shacks of Provincetown last year. “(The Outermost House) created a yearning for me to reconnect to the Cape I left when I was a kid,” Seufert said. “I felt very connected to that primal, natural Cape Cod, growing up here on Hardings Beach in Chatham.”

I'm very impressed with the passion Seufert has for his work, and about the subject of Beston and The Outermost House.

The film will run for 60 minutes, and require signficant funding. Funding sources will include grants and donations. I’m confident that we can raise the money necessary to complete this project. The interest in Beston and The Outermost House has grown significantly since the Beston Society was first organized seven years ago, and the demand for a film like this certainly is there.

The film will be marketed for DVD sales, shown at public screenings, and sold to schools for education purposes.

Please help us in our quest to complete this worthy project, which will pay tribute to a Cape Cod icon, the spiritual father of the Cape Cod National Seashore and a way of life that is vanishing all too quickly. Your tax-deductible contribution can be mailed to the Henry Beston Society Film Project, P.O. Box 1343, South Dennis, MA 02660. Checks can be made payable to the Henry Beston Society, or donate online by clicking the "Donate" button below.

-- Don Wilding, Executive Director, Henry Beston Society