Every Day Big and Small

During the 2023 and 2024 floods, Vermonters saw how their neighbors came together to support each other through difficult times. Every Day: Big and Small uses the floods as a backdrop to remind us that every day across Vermont, folks lift each other up, cross cultural divides, and create places where people can learn, grow, and share a sense of belonging.

This new documentary by Vermont producer and director Bess O’Brien features a series of short stories and vignettes about people making a positive impact every day through small things that can make a big difference in people’s lives.

Highlights include a teen center that helps kids find a sense of place; a farm focused on Black solidarity and joy; an elder woman who shares her home with an immigrant; a dance class for people dealing with Parkinson’s disease; girls building their own plane; a drag show at the Elks club in Rutland; a writers group for people in substance abuse recovery; a military museum run by a 13-year-old in his backyard; a space where foster parents can get free clothes and support; young women making a difference in farming; a men’s group focused on compassionate communication; a horse farm for people dealing with PTSD; and a good time at the Barnet mud bog, fiddle playing in Hardwick, and more.

This is a film about the importance of community. Every Day: Big and Small is about how Vermonters create small miracles, show up for each other, stand up to adversity, and create positive change. The film is about how folks prevail and rise above the often fragmented society we live in to make a better place for us to live.

Tickets can be purchased using the links below until 5:00 PM on the day of the screening. They can also be purchased at the door as long as tickets remain.

Bess O’Brien is the director and producer of award-winning documentaries including Just Getting By, about Vermonters struggling with food and housing insecurity; The Hungry Heart, about prescription drug abuse in Vermont; All of Me, about body image and eating disorders; and Ask Us Who We Are, about foster care in Vermont. She is also the director and producer of the feature film Shout it Out, based on the lives of Vermont teens, and the original Voices Project live musical. Bess O’Brien co-founded Kingdom County Productions with her husband, Jay Craven, in 1990.