Underplayed Gems

The Battle for Whiteclay (2008)

The Battle for Whiteclay poster
Directed by
Mark Vasina
Genre
documentary film
Country
United States
Runtime
1h 53m
Elsewhere
IMDb
The 3D catalogue: film cases on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalogue in 3D

The film shelves have a room of their own that you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real films from the same catalogue when you tell them what you feel like watching. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this film is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

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How it feels

This documentary is about the small town of Whiteclay, Nebraska which sold millions of cans of beer each year to people from the nearby Pine Ridge Indian Reservation where alcohol is banned. The film looks at the town's role as a supplier of alcohol and what happened when the liquor stores lost their licenses.

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What happens

Whiteclay (Lakota: Makȟásaŋ; "whiteish or yellowish clay") is a census-designated place in Sheridan County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 10 at the 2010 census. A significant part of Whiteclay's economy was based on alcohol sales to residents of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, located two miles (3.2 km) north across the border in South Dakota, where alcohol consumption and possession is prohibited. According to the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission, beer sales at Whiteclay's four liquor stores totalled 4.9 million cans in 2010 (~13,000 cans per day) for gross sales of $3 million. The four beer merchants paid federal and state excise taxes (included in liquor's sale price) of $413,932 that year. In 2017 the four liquor stores lost their licenses, and the town has ceased to be the main supplier of alcohol to the reservation. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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