O'Neal Compton

Big Eden -- A successful but lonely New York artist returns to Big Eden, the town of his childhood, to care for his ailing grandfather, and finds himself confronted by a former unrequited love.

The Life -- Local filmmaker Ian Cooper (winner of multiple prestigious awards, including first prize at the Northern Minnesota Regional Film Festival and Talent Show) seeks to unveil the 'truth' about college life. With his amateur cameramen in tow, he spends a day documenting the lives of two Bemidji State University freshmen. One is an egghead, coming to BSU with the highest entrance exam scores in his class. The other is...his roommate.

Big Eden is a uniquely American fable about home and family. Big Eden is a tiny town tucked away in the timberland of northwestern Montana, where cowboys lounge on the porch of the general store to pass the time away, and keep their eyes on things. Although it’s been years since he was back, Henry Hart, a successful but lonely New York artist, returns to Big Eden, the town of his childhood, to care for the ailing grandfather who raised him. Once home, Henry finds he must come to terms with his relationship to Dean Stewart, his best friend from high school, and the object of his unrequited love. At the same time, Henry’s reappearance sparks a transformation in Pike Dexter, the shy, unassuming Native American owner of the town’s general store. Pike is as surprised as anyone, and completely unprepared, when he finds himself falling in love with Henry. As this unspoken triangle unfolds under the scrutiny of Big Eden’s community, nearly everyone in town develops a stake in its outcome.

A successful but lonely New York artist returns to Big Eden, the town of his childhood, to care for his ailing grandfather, and finds himself confronted by a former unrequited love.