An Ilion High School graduate has moved back his hometown with the hopes of creating a documentary showing the history of the village through the words of past and present Ilion residents.
Michael Patrei has returned to Ilion and has begun work on his next documentary, “Portrait of an American Town, Ilion, N.Y.: A History of the United States of America.”
Patrei is framing the documentary by taking every single major event in the country’s history and telling it through a personal story from someone from the village.
The filmmaker is already four months into his research and has spent his time pouring over records at the Ilion Free Public Library’s Historical Room, the Herkimer County Historical Society, the Library of Congress in Washington and the national archives.
“In the historical room (of the Ilion library) there is tons and tons of information, like in journals, with a lot of personal information,” said Patrei.
Patrei, who graduated from IHS in 1992, is beginning his documentary during the when Mohawk Native Americans were in the region and starting with the story of Hiawatha.
“(The film) will start in pre-colonial times and go to the present. It’s a pretty big undertaking. It will probably take two years (to finish),” said Patrei, who projects the documentary’s release to be 2010.
Patrei’s first documentary, “Ballou, a documentary film,” is about the struggles and triumph of an inner-city marching band in Washington. The documentary included interviews with Colin Powell and Jesse Jackson and was featured on “Good Morning America,” “The Ellen Degeneres Show,” and “ABC Nightly News.” The film was also screened at the White House by First Lady Laura Bush.
Ballou will be shown at Ilion High School’s Large Group Instruction Room on Tuesday, July 15 at 7 p.m. as a fund-raising event for the Ilion library. Tickets at the door cost $12 for adults and $10 for children, students and seniors. Tickets are also available at the library. Patrei will also answer questions following the film.
Patrei is looking for people who have a story to tell on the history of Ilion and any old photos, letters or archive materials of Ilion or its citizens. People willing to share those items can e-mail history(at)ilionfilmcompany.com or archive(at)ilionfilmcompany.com.
For more information visit www.ilionfilmcompany.com or e-mail info(at)ilionfilmcompany.com.
“I always kind of wanted to do a documentary on Ilion. I thought now was a good time to move back and work on that,” added Patrei.
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An Ilion High School graduate has moved back his hometown with the hopes of creating a documentary showing the history of the village through the words of past and present Ilion residents.
Michael Patrei has returned to Ilion and has begun work on his next documentary, “Portrait of an American Town, Ilion, N.Y.: A History of the United States of America.”
Patrei is framing the documentary by taking every single major event in the country’s history and telling it through a personal story from someone from the village.
The filmmaker is already four months into his research and has spent his time pouring over records at the Ilion Free Public Library’s Historical Room, the Herkimer County Historical Society, the Library of Congress in Washington and the national archives.
“In the historical room (of the Ilion library) there is tons and tons of information, like in journals, with a lot of personal information,” said Patrei.
Patrei, who graduated from IHS in 1992, is beginning his documentary during the when Mohawk Native Americans were in the region and starting with the story of Hiawatha.
“(The film) will start in pre-colonial times and go to the present. It’s a pretty big undertaking. It will probably take two years (to finish),” said Patrei, who projects the documentary’s release to be 2010.
Patrei’s first documentary, “Ballou, a documentary film,” is about the struggles and triumph of an inner-city marching band in Washington. The documentary included interviews with Colin Powell and Jesse Jackson and was featured on “Good Morning America,” “The Ellen Degeneres Show,” and “ABC Nightly News.” The film was also screened at the White House by First Lady Laura Bush.
Ballou will be shown at Ilion High School’s Large Group Instruction Room on Tuesday, July 15 at 7 p.m. as a fund-raising event for the Ilion library. Tickets at the door cost $12 for adults and $10 for children, students and seniors. Tickets are also available at the library. Patrei will also answer questions following the film.
Patrei is looking for people who have a story to tell on the history of Ilion and any old photos, letters or archive materials of Ilion or its citizens. People willing to share those items can e-mail history(at)ilionfilmcompany.com or archive(at)ilionfilmcompany.com.
For more information visit www.ilionfilmcompany.com or e-mail info(at)ilionfilmcompany.com.
“I always kind of wanted to do a documentary on Ilion. I thought now was a good time to move back and work on that,” added Patrei.
