Amy Elliott and Elizabeth Donius, "World's Largest"

Co-director/producers Amy C. Elliott and Elizabeth Donius made "World's Largest," a documentary about small towns that build oversized strawberries and boll weevils in an attempt to draw in visitors. At first it looks like an amusing look at hicks from the sticks, but soon reveals itself as a tender and insightful examination of a way of life that's dying out.

"World's Largest" plays at Indy Film Fest on Tuesday, July 20th at 4:45 p.m. and Thursday, July 22nd at 7 p.m. Buy tickets by visiting the festival's web site.

Read The Film Yap's review of "World's Largest" here.

Elliott took the time to answer some of our questions:

So where did you get the idea to document all these small towns and their odd monuments? Was it from your own travels?

I’ve always loved roadside attractions like these. My day job is photographer, so I’ve done a ton of traveling around the country for work. On those trips I’d usually make sure to build in some extra time to hit the nearest roadside oddity. With the documentary, my co-producer Elizabeth Donius and I wanted to delve deeper and do more than just make quick pit stops at these places.

How long did you spend working on the film, and did you keep track of how far you traveled?

We spent close to five years filming and two in post. We shot in 91 locations across the country and 65 made the final cut. We logged 78,000 round-trip miles almost exactly.

What's your personal favorite of all the "world's largests" you saw? And what is your least favorite?

That’s tough to narrow down considering all the places we went, but one of my hall-of-famers has to be the Hidalgo, Texas killer bee. Not only is the statue incredibly realistic and cool looking, the story behind it epitomizes the indomitable spirit that often precipitates a “world’s largest”. Hidalgo is the border town where killer bees first entered the U.S. Understandably, locals were worried about this affecting tourism. But they decided to embrace their claim to fame and, as the mayor said, “make lemonade out of lemons”. They erected the monument and sure enough, people come from all over to get their picture taken with it.

There were also some disappointments. We dedicate a section of the film to the phenomenon of competing “world’s largest”s. Some towns advertise their object as the biggest when it’s just not. And of course we came upon some in need of maintenance. The pecan in Seguin, Texas had the unfortunate distinction of fitting both those descriptions. Despite the sign proclaiming otherwise, it’s not even half the size of the pecan in Brunswick, Missouri. And it was also tagged with graffiti.

Did you find any of the townsfolk resistant or embarrassed to talk about their monuments?

Not at all, most folks we met were eager to talk on camera. Though not everything said was positive -- there were people who were embarrassed by or opposed to their local monument, and wanted that point of view heard. This was particularly true in Soap Lake, Washington. The four-year attempt to build the world’s largest lava lamp in that community is the throughline of the film. There was a lot of debate around whether it was a good symbol, a realistic project, etc. The biggest controversy was over the economics -- Soap Lake is the poorest town in their county and people expressed anger about what they saw as a potentially frivolous use of resources.

The tone of the film is striking. Audiences will surely laugh at some of the small-town eccentricities -- not to mention the ridiculous giant boll weevils, catfish, etc. But your portrayal shows a lot of older folks who are proud of where they're from, and sad that it's dying. What's your take?

That was something that kind of snuck up on us. We knew a lot of these small towns were at economic crossroads (hence their desire for tourism) but didn’t realize the extent until we got there. Many "world’s largests" symbolize local industries (especially agriculture and manufacturing) that today are shrinking or even gone altogether. By the end of filming I couldn’t help but think of the monuments pulling a somewhat poignant double duty – both as tourist attractions and tributes to a vanishing past.

Tell us about the Mentone, Indiana egg monument and your experiences filming there.

Mentone is one of two places we filmed in that have a giant egg (actually three, but the third is a water tower, which we ultimately decided disqualifies it, so it was cut). The other is in Winlock, Washington, and unlike most competing "worlds largests" where there is one clear winner, it’s hard to tell which egg has the edge.

The statue commemorates the egg industry in the area and is painted with the words "Mentone, Indiana: The Egg Basket of the Midwest." Like many sites in the film, Mentone has an annual celebration around their monument’s theme. We tried to time our shooting trips accordingly, so were there for their Egg Festival. We had a blast -- Liz even competed in the egg toss (and lost quickly). What made you decide to keep returning to Soap Lake and their quest to build a giant lava lamp?

First off it was a great opportunity to document one of these attractions from inception. When we started filming in Soap Lake, Brent Blake (they guy who spearheaded the project) had just come up with the idea. In addition to logistical developments about whether or not the lava lamp would be built, we witnessed a community’s efforts to revitalize, define its identity and position itself for a better future. That’s what kept us going back for four years. Brent seems like a sincere guy in his quest for the lava lamp -- but kind of naive. Alright, clueless at times. What's your take on his motives and do you think Soap Lake will ever succeed?

In my opinion, Brent is completely transparent about his motives -- he honestly thinks the giant lava lamp would bring worldwide fame to Soap Lake and be a huge tourist draw. He has succeeded in putting the city on the map to a certain extent, as the idea itself received international press coverage. But if the lamp doesn’t go up it can’t attract tourists, and I don’t believe it ever will. By now it has been lying in pieces for years. The good news is Soap Lake does actually already have a big asset (which many struggling small towns lack) -- its unique mineral lake. Hopefully they can capitalize on that.

In a lot of the towns, it doesn't seem like the "world's largests" have done anything to stimulate the economy. If that's the case, why do you think so many small cities pursue/erect them?

There are other (and arguably better) reasons to build a “world’s largest” than to stimulate an economy -- to show pride of place, memorialize history or create a distinctive local landmark. But I believe Roy Richards of Winlock, Washington (home of the other world’s largest egg) says it best in the film: "I think every small town needs something special, don’t you?"