States of America — Season 1, Episode 14: Iowa
Documentary • 5 min • 1 season, 29 episodes
Episode synopsis
Since apprenticing for a retired fiddler after college, Beth Rotto has grown into a cultural staple within her community in Iowa. She works at the Co-op by day, fronts her folk band by night, and performs at the annual Nordic Fest to celebrate the Midwest's vast Scandinavian ancestry. Her act teaches people across the region to dance together in a scene of simple pageantry, unity, and wonder.
About States of America
In the United States, you may have been born in one state or even in a different country. You may go to school or work in another community, and then move somewhere else by choice or circumstance. What is it that ties us to these places and makes us call them home? And how does our state affect who we are and how we identify ourselves? In a time where identity, unity and belonging are under scrutiny, STATES OF AMERICA asks these questions in lyrical short documentaries. Featuring everyday people as distinct as the physical and cultural landscapes they call home, these films begin to portray a mosaic of America's famously emerging identity.