Students applaud after viewing rough cut of 'Elephants in the Coffee'

Tom Grant and Shelby Evans at showing of rough cut at ABAC

We held a showing of the rough cut of “Elephants in the Coffee” on Monday night in Baldwin Library at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College. I was gratified by the reception. They applauded. I’m not used to hearing that.

I try to watch how the audience reacts, and they seemed very attentive during most of the film. It drew out some strong moments of laughter, too. And I could tell when they were getting a little bored.

When I compared this to the first showing to a rural studies class, when I presented a version that was 12 minutes longer, I noticed that this version of the film did not seem as dark. I still think we need to shorten several elements of the film and try to bring a hopeful upswing at the end. Some of the new material D.K. Bhaskar has obtained this fall will help in that regard, as will the comments from people in the audience.
​
There is hope for elephants in south India. And for farmers, too.

---