Two Square Miles is an acclaimed documentary from NiiJii Films that chronicles the conflicts that unfold when a proposed multinational coal-fired cement plant threatens to reshape the small community of Hudson, New York. In the film, the city’s colorful citizens fight passionately to save their town’s character and architectural heritage and breathe new life into the concept of local democracy.
Two Square Miles offers an extended observation of life in a small American city as it experiences rapid change over a two-year span. While focusing on the present, the film is sprinkled with brief historical interludes that offer a glimpse at Hudson’s notorious past as a whaling port and an corrupt Mecca of vice. The scope of the town’s ups and downs illustrates the cyclical nature of its boom-and-bust backstory and brings attention to the turning point that the city currently faces.
Two Square Miles is out now on DVD. www.twosquaremiles.com
This article appears in January 2007.
