Another Work is Possible - a documentary from Mortise & Tenon Magazine (HD Streaming)

Since 2002, Charpentiers Sans Frontières (CSF, “Carpenters Without Borders”) have traveled around the world to build, using the old ways. With axe, saw, plumb bob, and chisel, this diverse group of skilled craftspeople restored a medieval bridge at a castle in France, built a new hewn-truss roof system on a blacksmith shop in Romania, and even ventured as far afield as China – but they had never before done a project in the United States.

In 2019, CSF traveled to the rural Maine coast to construct a blacksmith shop for Mortise & Tenon Magazine. “Another Work is Possible” documents this ambitious project, from the sourcing of logs in the forest and their harvest using horse power; to peeling, hewing, scribing, and cutting joinery with simple, ancient hand tools; sharing communal meals made with local ingredients; and finally, the raising of the structure – all accomplished in less than two weeks of labor.

Weaving together gorgeous footage along with technical explanations of tools and tasks, this films shows us that another way of working is possible ­­– a way that reawakens our hands and minds. This film is a celebration of the beauty of skilled manual labor, of slowing down and reconnecting to hand craft, sustainability, and fellowship in our increasingly distracted world.





Runtime: 1 hour 17 minutes.

Form more information and resources from Mortise & Tenon Magazine, or to subscribe to their enewsletter or print-only publication,
click here: mortiseandtenonmag.com