Over the course of 50 days, a group of friends traveled across the continental United States with a camcorder and a cornhole set, playing as many games of cornhole with as many people as possible. During the games, we asked strangers their opinions on their communities, their homes, and the nation in general, in the context of recent political polarization and the effects of isolation following COVID-19. The road-trip documentary follows this journey, meeting the various people who volunteered to play a game, the different ways people and communities have adapted, their hopes, their fears, and finally, “what it means to be an American”.
Production
The Grand Trans-American Cornhole Quest (2022) is a student-made, feature-length road trip documentary about travel, cornhole, and community.
Over the course of 7 weeks, a crew of 1-3 people drove across 32 different states, setting up a games of cornhole in public locations ’emblematic of America’ and ask strangers walking by if they’d like to stop for a game. The interview ended when the game did. We asked participants about the location, why they were there, what it meant to them… as well as questions about home, travel, and connection.
The outcome: 24 hours worth of interviews with 252 people.
The Grand Trans-American Cornhole Quest is a compilation of answers from presidential candidates, houseless individuals, first-generation immigrants, Native people, veterans, active military, school teachers, and fellow travelers on what it means to be an American, what it means to belong, and the differences between those two things.
Funded by the 2022 President’s Summer Fellowship from Reed College.
Photos
