ISU groups pesent film ‘Bachelor Farmer’ Oct. 12; filmmaker Culpepper to be present

The Idaho State University Janet C. Anderson Gender Resource Center and ISU Political Science Department, Genesis Project, with generous support from the Faculty Senate Cultural Affairs Council, will present the film "Bachelor Farmer" and a discussion with its filmmaker, Michael Culpepper, at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 12, in the Salmon River Suite, Pond Student Union on the ISU campus. 

The screening and discussion, in honor of National Coming Out Day, are free and open to all.

Engendering a sort of contradictory rollercoaster ride, Culpepper has captured excitement within the mundane, acceptance within conformity, understanding from the most unlikely of places.  Examining the struggle that openly gay men face in the small, rural town of Kendrick, Idaho – population 369, – "Bachelor Farmer" provides its audience with an intimate look at the difficult peculiarities and daily negotiations endured by gay men who choose to live in a place so small.  Indeed, those same men who choose to remain in the community of which they were born and raised. 

Speaking in recognition of National Coming Out Day at Idaho State University, Michael Culpepper will discuss the overall theme of "Bachelor Farmer": mainly, that the rich sense of community and ensuing tendency toward acceptance of a neighbor generates understanding of homosexuality in even the smallest and most rural landscapes.  Through his unique and uncompromising approach toward documentary filmmaking, Culpepper combines the disciplines of art and architecture to expose the foundation, and consequent building and re­-building, of small-town relationships and the unexpected nuances of reception and tolerance that such strong and established community ties create.  In all, Michael Culpepper offers his audience critical insight into an historical [mis]perception of small, rural populations and their attitude toward homosexuality.  Through a vigorously bolstered approach toward documentary film that combines expertise in architecture, filmmaking, video, and fine art, Culpepper has demonstrated the inviolability of human kinship.

Since its production in 2005, "Bachelor Farmer" has been featured in such prestigious venues as: New Fest in New York, the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival where it won a Jury Award, MTV-LOGO, and The Museum of Modern Art in New York. 

Trained in both architecture and filmmaking, Culpepper's work has been exhibited in such prominent museums as The Science Museum in London, The Museum at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, The Center for Fine Arts in Miami, and The Wright Art Gallery in Los Angeles.

The organizers are sponsoring the talk and the showing of the film at ISU in recognition of National Coming Out Day, an internationally observed civil awareness day for discussion about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues. First observed in 1987, the goal has been to facilitate LGBT and straight allies to live openly and talk about their support for equality at home, at work and in their communities.

The Anderson Center at Idaho State University serves as the focal point on campus for the consideration of gender issues and is especially guided by the ideal of diversity which allows us to envision a future free of the limitations imposed by our culture's standard definitions of gender and other categories of difference.

For more information, contact the Anderson Center at 208-282-2805.

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For the Media: If you would like more information about National Coming Out Day or the Anderson Center, or to set up an interview with Michael Culpepper, please contact Dr. Rebecca Morrow at 282-2805 or gndrctr@isu.edu.