TIM DURRIN

GOOD MEDICINE PRODUCTS

Tim is a 27-year-old Iraq War veteran who lives and works in the Berkshires. After returning from active duty, Tim struggled with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and addiction. After rehab, Tim begins a practice of yoga and meditation that shifts him on a whole new path that includes competitive cycling and a deeper connection to his own spiritual traditions. In the course of the film, we see Tim transform his life, going from rejecting his GI Bill education to getting a full scholarship for graduate school in Social Work. 

SHIRLEY EDGERTON

YOUTH ALIVE

Shirley is the founder, leader, and den mother of Youth Alive, Pittsfield’s only step dance and drumming performance group. Started when her children were teens, Shirley, a social worker, quickly realized the benefits of having the kids focused on music and dance. As her children grew up, they took over coaching younger kids who now perform all over the state. But Youth Alive’s real mission reaches beyond street performances — Shirley is guiding young people to live a life of purpose. Shirley explains how her service to the kids is something that gives more than it gets – and she’s become a more open and joyful person because of it. 

MARK GEROW

Mark also served in the US military as a survival trainer for the Air Force. But Mark’s demons followed him into the service when he tried to run away from his family dysfunction. Experiencing guilt over joining the military and leaving his family, Mark still manages to find his footing as a yoga instructor and father of two young boys. Through his yoga practice and years of “posing”, Mark discovers that his life’s blessings come from learning how to apply what he has learned to parenting his children and sharing his story with others. 

SEAN STANTON

NORTH PLAIN FARM AND BLUE HILL FARM

As a young man, Sean started out serving his country in the Coast Guard but became disillusioned. He decided to return to his hometown in Massachusetts. Slowly, he taught himself how to raise chickens, pigs and finally worked up to running the farm for Blue Hill Restaurants. Eventually, he ran for office and got elected to the town council. In the film, we watch as Sean explains a different kind of service to one’s country – providing quality food and teaching innovative farming strategies that increases a community’s well-being through sustainability and health. 

JEN AND PETER SALINETTI

WOVEN ROOTS FARM

The Salinettis are a college-educated couple with two small children who choose to be farmers despite the family pressures to make more money and get office jobs. In the course of the film, they travel to Rwanda to volunteer at Gardens for Health, a non-profit dedicated to ending malnutrition by teaching villagers how to garden for food. Jen and Pete’s understanding of themselves as teachers and activists blossoms on this trip.