Directed by Dawn Carpenter, Interwoven: A Story of Resilience and Renewal is a 2025 documentary short that takes us into the heart of North Carolina, where hard economic times have shuttered most textile mills that once defined the whole region. Predictably, this resulted in profound challenges but the local community rose up to the challenge, combating hardship and hopelessness with resilience and unity.
What Interwoven manages to do so well is capture the far reaching effects of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and how it transported all textile jobs to either Mexico or China where cheap labor and no environmental protection attracted industry owners with promises of huge profits. The ensuing job losses and poverty that swept through the region decimated the entire local way of life but transformative initiatives like the Industrial Commons, which champion worker ownership and sustainability, managed to ensure new life into the local economy.
Carpenter takes us into an innovation camp in Morganton where an ambitious plan aims to foster workforce development and create meaningful, sustainable jobs, ultimately enhancing the entire community’s well-being. The messaging here is timely; rampant capitalism destroys both lives and the environment in pursuit of profits and only the workers and local stakeholders can rise above the promises of money to make something that benefits both workers and the environment alike.
In addition, the direction here by Dawn Carpenter is fantastic. Carpenter structures the entire documentary in a way that not only accentuates the stories but the characters as well. She knows which moments to focus on, which moments to ponder over and which moments to ground the narrative on. Not only is she able to mesh the different interviews really well, she does it so effortlessly that it left me highly impressed. Not only is Carpenter the director but also the writer here and thus, she is able to keep the fluff to a minimum and the razor sharp editing ensures that there is not a single dull moment in the entire film. As a result, we are hooked onto the story from the start and we want more when the entire documentary whizzes by in no time.
Visually speaking, the film bursts out of its own shell soaring. The cinematography is good and the deep hues give the film a distinctly unique look. Jesse barber, the cinematographer, has done a fantastic job ensuring that specific moments look and feel as organic as possible and those real, authentic moments of the local populace as they narrate their stories capture both hopelessness and the subsequent resilience without fail. Not only does this help keep the film feel ‘real’, it also makes for an exciting and novel viewing.
Another aspect that works really well here is the sound design. The sound mixing team has done a terrific job here, invoking a true sense of despair as the textile mills shuttered and how the team at Industrial Commons has resurrected the whole community singlehandedly. The score, although a bit lowkey, is great as well and it manages to pump up the screenplay in a way that helps the narrative push forward. Thus, Interwoven is a potent documentary, one that works on multiple levels to leave you both inspired and impressed. Summarizing how a community in North Carolina comes together to increase efficiency, improve sustainability and save jobs in the local textile industry, the film goes above and beyond in showcasing the power of community in getting things done. We loved the film’s message about environmental sustainability and resilience and how community driven initiatives are the best to combat the poison of unchecked capitalism.
