“The Domestic Machine” is a documentary film taking a glimpse into the world of open-source education and devoted camaraderie located in online craft and knitting communities. A niche craft technique with a cult following tells a larger story about the power of the internet to foster community and to connect otherwise disconnected people across the globe.
Produced By:
Victoria Manganiello
Craftwork Collective
Co-Director, EP
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Nicole Yi Messier
Craftwork Collective
Co-Director, EP
Rikki Porter
Indigo Collective
Director of Photography
Josh Greenwood
Indigo Collective
Story Producer
Nick Jaco Collins
Indigo Collective
Executive Producer
Tatianna Fenner
Indigo Collective
Line Producer
Produced in collaboration between Craftwork Collective and Indigo Collective, our team has diverse backgrounds and skills. We also have a history of collaborating with one another on various projects and have honed working methods that support effective teamwork and exciting output.
Support the Project:
A small cult following has kept this specific knitting tradition alive with lo-fi YouTube tutorials that have generated renewed interest in machine knitting for gen-Zers and millennials. A free, accessible archive like YouTube has facilitated mainly rural, female baby boomers' creation of content that inspires social media influencers and posh fashion designers of a younger generation.
With many of the prolific YouTube knitters growing with age, now is the time to document their stories and share, with the world the ways in which they have inspired community and craft in the internet era. “The Domestic Machine” juxtaposes the knitters of older generations with knitters of younger ones, many of whom are knitwear fashion designers and social media influencers. Throughout the film, we will meet people in both groups, in their homes and workspaces. The film will conclude with a gathering of everyone: A cross-generational bridge founded on a shared love and commitment to a niche craft.
Support the project here.
Telling an intergenerational and heart-warming story about how the internet has fostered a unique community of craft lovers with varying backgrounds, two millennial textile artists, travel across America to meet various machine knitters from big cities to rural farm towns, and highlight the evolution and influence of this very niche form of domestic craft from both those who were around for the machine’s premier in the 1960s and those of younger generations.
