"He was really moved by what he saw," Kennedy said of her uncle, who is a former Crimson editor. "He saw families of eight living in dilapidated houses, and he saw an education that was profoundly lacking."

Because Kennedy realized that many of these problems still exist, she was motivated to investigate the effects of the changing welfare law on these rural communities.

"I fear what will happen after 2002 when many of these families can no longer receive welfare. I think that the family and the culture and the tradition will erode even more than they are now eroding," Kennedy said.

Iree Bowling, the central character of the film, is the matriarch of an extended family of 13 children, 30 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

The film opens with scenes of several of Iree's sons gathering moss and bloodroot and selling ginseng. The herbs are their only means of supporting themselves, aside from welfare payments.

"We tried to show what life is like from their perspective and to let viewers form their own judgements," Kennedy said.

Kennedy focused on three dramas that unfold over the course of the year: a son's time spent in jail after being falsely accused of trespassing, a daughter's attempts to remove herself from an abusive relationship and a grandson's roller-coaster relationship with his sometime-fiancee.