Purcell Carson comes to film from the world of design and interactive publishing. Most recently, she produced fodors.com, a website of customized guides and discussion forums for travelers. Since turning to documentary, she has chosen to tell stories of small, personal responses to large economic realities. She studied literature and semiotics as an undergraduate at Brown University.

Quality Orange
video
18 minutes

A perfect orange is no happy accident of nature. In a series of documentary vignettes, Quality Orange introduces the men and women who devote their days--and a few sleepless nights--to the orange. This is the story of parallel quests for perfection: from laborers' efforts to earn a living to growers' searches for a more profitable piece of fruit.

Import Export
16mm, color
6 minutes

Filmed on the dockyards in Oakland, California, Import Export is a visual essay documenting the rhythms and scale of container shipping. It explores the grace of both human and machine labor, the sheer volume of consumer goods and the atmosphere of an industrial landscape.

Bread
Digital Video
8 minutes

Bread examines the efforts of a growing local currency movement in Berkeley. Co-produced with Joanne Shen.

The Soft-Serve Years
16mm, black and white
3 minutes

More than 30 years ago, Mexican immigrant Jesus Nu–ez inherited an ice cream truck from his neighbor. Since then, its tinny music and soft-serve cones have been a fixture of his Sacramento neighborhood and a source of stability for family of ten children. On the eve of retirement, Jesus and his wife Guadalupe reflect on the family business that brought them pride.

FESTIVALS: Cinequest San Jose 2000, Silver Images Chicago 2000