“Rise of the Giants” Free documentary screening gives insight to giant pumpkin growing

Jaël Allen Roundup Reporter

The Great Hall filled with students who waited to watch cinema instructors and husband and wife team, Daria Matza and Mark Devendorf’s documentary “Rise of the Giants,” about growing giant pumpkins.

The documentary touched on almost every aspect on the art of growing pumpkins. From the history of pumpkins being the oldest domestic plant to its pollination process which featured some funky Barry White as background music.

One question that might have been on everyone’s mind was Matza and Devendorf’s choice to make a film about growing giant pumpkins.

“I saw the image of them growing them and that image just really captivated me,” Matza said.

Matza used this screening to help her History of Documentary students make the connection between what she teaches in class to a real life documentary.

“I was hoping that the students who are learning about documentary would be able to see [the film] and relate it to the things we’re learning in class,” Matza said.

After the documentary, the floor poured open with questions from audience members for both Matza and Devendorf about the process it took to create the documentary. A student asked how the filmmaking duo was able to use movie clips from Charlie Brown and other famous Halloween movies without infringing on copyright.

“A lot of the Disney clips and the movies clips are under a law called fair use,” Matza said.

Some students had questions about how they were able to make the edits and put the footage together even though they had no storyboard and just went straight into filming the documentary.

“You have to just work with the footage you have and you have to watch it hundreds of times.” Devendorf said.

Devendorf and Matza will never forget the experience of working with such a unique group of people who believe that the bigger the pumpkin, the happier the people are. They also feel they have built great new relationships.

“I feel like I’ve made really great friends,” Matza said.

As cinema instructors, this film was a way for students to see their teachers’ work and learn from it while having a better understanding about film and to earn extra credit, according to cinema major Joseph Winthrope.

“It’s kind of just seeing the credentials of my professor as well,” Winthrope said.

In more ways than one, the film showed how growers would