The Camden International Film Festival (CIFF) in Maine celebrated its 21st edition earlier this month in September with a slate of boundary-pushing documentary films. The festival’s prestigious Cinematic Vision Award was presented to Evidence, directed by Lee Anne Schmitt, School of Film/Video faculty.
Schmitt’s fourth feature-length documentary examines the legacy of the Olin Corporation, a chemical and munitions manufacturer where her father once worked. The company was not only responsible for a series of ecological disasters but also became a major force in conservative politics through the John M. Olin Foundation.
While the film examines the Olin Foundation’s free-market environmentalism and its cultural impact, Schmitt frames the story as a meditation on control—of land, of ideology, and of the human body. Her perspective draws from both her personal life and from writers like Jedediah Purdy, whose book After Nature argues that separating humans from the natural world obscures their deep dependence on it.
The award jury (Marlene Edoyan, Kiyoko McCrae, and Maya E. Rudolph) shared:
“Through a masterful interplay of intimate memory, archival material and evocative 16mm imagery, this film weaves the personal into the political, revealing the subtle yet profound ways ideology permeates everyday life. Its nuanced approach transforms recollections of family, childhood and the natural world into a lens on identity, care and cultural complicity, offering insight into the structures that shape how we live, think and relate. With resonant formal choices, meticulous research and a deeply personal perspective, this essay documentary turns evidence into reflection, offering clarity, urgency and insight. For its courage, its precision, and its ability to illuminate the forces shaping contemporary America, the jury is proud to give the Cinematic Vision award to Evidence by Lee Anne Schmitt.”
Schmitt, an artist and filmmaker based in Los Angeles, is interested in political thought, personal experience and the land. Her projects have addressed American Exceptionalism, the logic of utility and labor, gestures of kindness and refusal, racial violence, cowboyism and the efficacy of solitude. She has exhibited widely at venues that include MoMA New York, the Getty Museum and REDCAT in LA; the Centre Pompidou in Paris; and festivals such as Oberhausen (Germany), Rotterdam (Netherlands), and CPH:DOX (Denmark). She is also a recipient of grants from the Graham Foundation (2017), Creative Capital (2015) and a Guggenheim Fellowship (2018).
