So what does it mean to belong to a place? Emmy Award–nominated filmmaker and BYU professor Brad Barber explores this intriguing question in the second season of his documentary series “Beehive Stories,” premiering Monday, Nov. 15, on KBYU Eleven and at kbyueleven.org/programs/beehivestories.
“Beehive Stories” explores Utah using five-minute mini-documentaries that feature glimpses into the lives of people in many of the remote corners of Utah. Traveling from county to county in the Beehive State, Barber, together with students from BYU’s Theatre and Media Arts Department, sets out to discover what makes a Utahn a Utahn.
Each episode of the documentary series features an individual and his or her day-to-day life in the county they call home. Also featured are Utah’s five stunning national parks. Viewers will journey from the mountains to the desert and discover how Utah’s diverse landscape affects the people who claim the land as their own.
During this second season, viewers will meet one man, a former social worker, who lives in a cave outside Moab and has chosen to give up money entirely. They can also spend five quiet minutes each in Zion and Arches National Parks, where Barber and his students have captured the parks’ natural sights and sounds. Finally, viewers will sit through a solitary two-day shift at the Salt Lake evaporation pools, and meet one immigrant from India who has adjusted to life in Utah with the help of beautiful Bryce Canyon.
"Beehive Stories" is an antidote to an age where moving is as easy as packing up a car, and leaving home is no longer the exception but the rule, fewer and fewer people live and die in the state where they were born.
The “Beehive Stories” schedule, which includes showings at 5:55 and 6:55 p.m. on KBYU Eleven, is:
Grand County, Monday, Nov. 15
Zion National Park, Tuesday, Nov. 16
Garfield County, Wednesday, Nov. 17
Arches National Park, Thursday, Nov. 18
Box Elder County, Friday, Nov. 19
The initial five episodes of “Beehive Stories” aired last February and can be seen at www.beehivestories.com.
