Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern

Updated June 26, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

This cinéma-vérité portrait of co-director Jordan's family's struggle to maintain their small farm won top documentary honors and the Audience Award at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for an Oscar. Jeanne Jordan chronicles the disassembling of her family's home, the contents of which, along with the farm equipment and animals, were auctioned off in the 1980s farming crisis. The Jordans were not alone, as thousands of families faced a similar fate when banks came down hard on struggling farmers. Jordan provides background information on the troubled times and weaves clips from classic Hollywood westerns such as High Noon and Red River into her narrative, balancing movie myths with a slice of real life.