“Iowa: and the Broken Circle” is a 90 minute documentary film made by Iowa City local, Charlie Morris. It’s a part of The Iowa Prairie Documentary Project. This movie explores the story of the land we call Iowa. It tackles tough questions like why most of us don’t swim in the water any longer and why so many of us are getting cancer. It’s also a spotlight on the beauty of Iowa, land restoration and how easily we could be doing the right thing. After the screening there will be a 30 minute Q&A session.
There is no one in the USA who isn’t a part of this story. I’ll let the movie explain how. I began this project in August of 2025. I thought I’d interview people for perhaps 3 months at the most. I was going to self fund the entire project. It was going to be a small scale all-volunteer effort. Everything changed when a family foundation offered to help with costs in early 2026. It allowed the scope of work to dramatically expand. At that point this project became my full time job and I was fortunate enough to receive donations to keep me afloat and traveling all over Iowa. I also made the decision early on to release the full interviews of each person that I was interacting with. By the time the movie comes out there will be about 30 such interviews released. It means that before and after the movie is seen, people can listen to or watch these interviews and learn a lot about the state of Iowa and the challenges we face.
Bio about Director:
Over the last decade Charlie has worked extensively as an investigative story finder and story teller in the world of forest and animal conservation. As an award winning film maker, director and editor he has made 4 feature length films between 2017-2024 and over a hundred short form videos and produced 3 separate podcasts arcs. His specialty is in taking an information dense story and making it relatable to the audience, especially in the realm of conservation stories. Currently he is directing the Iowa Prairie Documentary Project, which is being released as a podcast, video and film. It will also be turned into a book.
Blog
https://iowaprairieproject.blog/
Interviews:
https://iowaprairieproject.blog/interviews/