NORTH SMITHFIELD – Season 2 of a documentary series on the history of one North Smithfield village and its place in the Industrial Revolution has been nominated for three Emmy awards by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Boston/New England Chapter.
Slatersville, America’s First Mill Village director Christian de Rezendes received nominations in the categories of Director of Long Form Content and Editor of Long Form Content, and Composer Stephen Gilbane was nominated for the Musical Arrangement/Composition in Season 2.
Gilbane previously won an Emmy in the same category in 2023 for his work on Season 1 of the series. That season, which premiered on Rhode Island PBS in fall of 2022, featured five episodes covering the early years of the Slatersville Mill under the Slater family. For the Emmy-winning score, Gilbane worked, in part, with the Budapest Scoring Orchestra to record a classical theme in Hungary.
Season 2 was licensed by streaming service Tubi and released in 2024. It features three episodes covering a period following World War II, a largely prosperous era in American history, and delves into the small village’s place in the larger cultural and economic context.
Both Seasons 1 and 2, which include episodes 1 through 8, are currently available on Tubi, Amazon Prime and Youtube Movies & TV.
The awards ceremony for the 48th Boston/New England Emmys, meanwhile, is scheduled to take place in Boston, Mass. on Saturday, June 7.
de Rezendes, whose town-based production company Breaking Branches Pictures was also nominated for an award in the documentary category in 2023, said he is, “very excited,” for the 2025 event.
“I’m proud of our group, our crew,” he said. “We look forward to the ceremony June 7. We still have three more episodes to finish, so it will be wonderful to get to the finish line.”
The director said he is now in talks with Rhode Island PBS about a possible return to the station for the release of the three episodes in the final season, which are now in production. Episode 9, he said, is set to premiere at the Woonsocket-based Museum of Work & Culture on Labor Day.
de Rezendes noted that Episode 10 will tackle the Stamina Mill fire and other environmental issues.
“That’s going to be interesting,” he said.
The work will bring an end to a project that began in 2011 with plans for a single documentary film. In the years since, de Rezendes has sifted through thousands of historical records with numerous trips abroad, and interviewed hundreds of people with knowledge of what took place. He’s noted that one of the most challenging aspects of such a massive undertaking was the organization of material to create the story arc.
“As we get closer and closer down the line, we see how everything is kind of formulating,” de Rezendes said. “Now, we know what’s in the final three episodes. It’s just a question of completing it.”
He said he hopes to complete the project by fall of next year but added, “these things never go as fast as I want them to.”
Once complete, the 11 episode series will document a 200 year period of village history.
Links to view his progress to date can be found on the Slatersville website here.
