Downeast

Year: 2012
Country: USA
Run Time: 77 minutes

When the Stinson Seafood plant closed its doors in 2010, nearly 130 people in Gouldsboro, Maine lost their jobs. The cannery was the last of its kind, a relic from a time when the sardine industry ruled the Maine coast. The unfortunate situation gives Boston businessman Antonio Bussone an idea: his company will reopen the plant as a lobster-packing facility, and rescue the community from the unemployment line. It seems like the perfect solution. To sweeten the deal, Bussone is eligible for money from a $200,000 federal grant designed to help rebuild the local economy. But this is where everything hits a snag. The local government needs to approve the grant, and as it turns out, some of the politicians happen to work in the lobster industry. While the town shows its support for Bussone, the leaders constantly resist, putting their wallets before the good of the people. DOWNEAST follows Bussone as he struggles to make his business work. Are his good intentions enough? Or is he in over his head? – E.F.

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