DocYard: Nuts!

Director Penny Lane will attend in person. Feature preceded by a selection of Penny Lane’s short films.

Total program length: 108 minutes + Q&A

Synopsis: NUTS!  is a feature length documentary about Dr. John Romulus Brinkley, an eccentric genius who built an empire in Depression-era America with a goat testicle impotence cure and a million watt radio station.

Using animated reenactments, interviews, archival footage, and a hilariously unreliable narrator, NUTS!  traces Brinkley’s rise from poverty and obscurity to the heights of celebrity, wealth and influence in Depression-era America.

Along the way, he transplants tens of thousands of goat testicles; amasses an enormous fortune; is (sort of) elected Governor of Kansas; builds the world’s most powerful radio station; invents junk mail, the infomercial, the sound-truck and Border Radio; hosts some epic parties; and annoys the heck out of the establishment, until finally his audacious actions force the federal government to create regulations to stop him.

How he does it, and what happens when it all comes crashing down, is the story of NUTS!

About The DocYard:

web | facebook | twitter

For decades, Boston has been a center for documentary filmmaking. It is a place where students come to learn and experiment, where some of documentary’s giants are teaching and creating new work, and where the craft is continuously nurtured and expanded. Today’s filmmakers are breaking new ground that has its foundation, more often than not, in Boston’s rich documentary legacy.

Celebrating what is innovative, interesting, and inspiring in documentary, The DocYard is a bi-weekly film and discussion series that takes place every other Monday. Their goal is to grow a vibrant, creative community for Boston’s filmmakers, film students and film lovers through each of these special events.