For The Love of Rutland
Directed and Produced by Jennifer Maytorena Taylor
(US, 2020, 91 min)

When the mayor of Rutland, a small city in Vermont, attempts to resettle 100 Syrian refugees, communal discord erupts over resources and civic priorities. Filmed over the course of three years, For The Love of Rutland is an American portrait of a blue-collar city struggling through the opioid crisis, widespread unemployment and poverty. Honest and intimate, Maytorena Taylor provides an interior view of an Ameri- can city’s clashing ideological and cultural subgroups.

Jennifer Maytorena Taylor’s documentaries and short films have been shown in theaters, on television, and in film festivals and museums around the world. Previous credits include the award-winning documentaries New Muslim Cool for POV and the Emmy Award-winning Home Front. Maytorena Taylor is an Associate Professor in the Department of Film and Digital Media at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Producers' Forum: For The Love of Rutland