Carson Grant in The Pennsylvania Amish Countryside With Lizzie Borden

By Carson Grant

The clopping of the horse hooves on the cold winter pavement outside my Rt. 340 Bed and Breakfast room this 5 am morning, offers a gentle awaking to a full day of shooting on "Bordenia" directed and written by Cameron Munson. A retelling of an American legend, the Fall River story of the Borden family, and Lizzie Borden's part she played in the ax murders of her father and stepmother.

Our film location, Intercourse, Pennsylvania offers a quiet Lancaster township, off-season to the warm weather tourists who flock here to enjoy the pastoral surrounding of Amish farming, dining, crafts and culture. Quilting, needlepoint, wood furniture making, tin, metal and pottery wares are some of the handwork one will find on a stroll along the main street markets and restaurants.

Promised religious freedom by William Penn in 1730, from the Rhine region, the Amish (plain), Lutheran (worldly) and other Germanic Dutch settlers have developed these farmlands to be one of the most productive areas in the Unites States today. A respectful visitor can enjoy the Amish lifestyle in daily routines as a traditionally costumed woman serving food at a local eatery, a young man riding a scooter through town, a gathering of bearded married men in conversation, or the horse draw black buggy carriages and wagons transporting.

The American custom of Hexen, hanging drawn and hand painted signs at the peak of a barn to promote fertility and protection for a Pennsylvania German Dutch farm originated from this countryside.

Examples of Early American farming and building technology can be explored with a walking visit to many local buildings, as the 'Old Woodshed' with the vintage sawmill tables still in place, a scenic ride through the miles of fertile agricultural fields, and the tasting of many local preserved food specialties. Along historical 'Old Philadelphia Pike' a variety of commerce and the Amish Mennonite information center offer products, literature and exhibits of the cultural heritage of the area.

The house we are shooting the murder scenes has a similar design to the original Borden's home, which now is a B & B in Fall River. As a native to RI, the Massachusetts Bordens' 1892 crime had always captured my imagination and director Munson's casting of each role was right on point. Today's first shots are of Andrew Borden (my character) chopping logs with an ax, a skill rekindled from my Rhode Island childhood. Then I meet some of my family in makeup for the death scene with my wife (Gloria Buccino), my daughter Lizzie (Sarah Ann Corkum), and my son Bill (Michael Mattera).

"Old Woodshed" sawmill technology

With a 2009 release into the international festival circuit, 'Bordenia' will be a twisting of a children's rhyme to an audience of new listeners, creating an innocent shadow around Lizzie.

(published with permission from FilmPens.com)

Links:
Actor's website: http://www.carsongrant.com
Wikipedia- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizzie_Borden
Borden trials-
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/lizzieborden/bordenhome.html
Fall River, Massachusetts house- http://www.lizzie-borden.com/
Amish 101http://pittsburgh.about.com/cs/pennsylvania/a/amish.htm
Hexen Designs- http://www.amishnews.com/featurearticles/Storyofhexsigns.htm