Peter Schumann directing the Bread and Puppet pageant, Glover, VT.

           We see Peter and Elka Schumann welcoming a large multicultural group of young apprentices, who have come from around the world.  They have just one week to create acts that will be performed to their first public audience.  We then see various young people rehearsing skits, with interactions by Schumann giving his directorial comments.

            In addition to Schumann's personal story, the film will be interspersed with the experiences of many young apprentices and devoted longtime puppeteers, who come from multiple countries to participate in the theater. The film presents a patchwork of interviews and scenes of life at the theater's farm, including rehearsals, public performances, Schumann baking six-foot loaves of bread, painting in his artist's studio and directing productions. 

Puppeteers rehearsing at the Bread and Puppet farm, Glover, VT.

            We see Schumann celebrating his 90th birthday with family and friends, in the midst of his latest creative blast – incessantly creating a painting a day and directing a flurry of new theater productions for the touring troupe.

            This is a story about a remarkable artist and his creativity and resilience, and the power of art to challenge the status quo and imagine a better world.

            The film ends on an uplifting note, exploring the concept of a word coined by Schumann – “possibilitarian” – someone who sees unbridled possibilities to create change.

            We're also releasing a 40-minute short film, AN ARTIST RESPONDS TO WAR, this fall 2025, ahead of the release of our feature-length or multi-part documentary series, BREAD & PUPPET: THE THEATER OF PETER SCHUMANN, which will be completed in 2026.

            For more information about AN ARTIST RESPONDS TO WAR, click here.

About the Filmmakers

Director / Producer / Cinematographer / Editor – Robbie Leppzer

           Robbie Leppzer has been making documentary films for his entire career that chronicle people who stick their necks out to work for grassroots social change in the world. 

           Robbie is an award-winning independent documentary filmmaker and radio producer who has directed over thirty documentaries over the past 45 years. His critically acclaimed feature-length and short documentaries, as well as commissioned television news magazine segments, about contemporary social issues and multicultural themes have been broadcast by CNN International, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, HBO/Cinemax, PBS, CNN, Sundance Channel, HDNet, Link TV, Free Speech TV, National Public Radio, and Pacifica Radio. 

           Leppzer’s previous feature-length documentary, POWER STRUGGLE, chronicled the successful grassroots citizens’ effort to shut down a problem-plagued nuclear power plant in Vermont. The film was broadcast nationally on Free Speech TV and Link TV, as well as across Vermont on Vermont PBS.

           For more information on Robbie Leppzer’s previous documentaries, visit our website at www.TurningTide.com.

Executive Producer – Robin Lloyd

           Robin Lloyd, director of Green Valley Media, based in Burlington, Vermont has been making films and videos for 25 years. From her early experimental films to her videos on people’s struggles around the world, she has sought to bring social issues to life. Her collaborations with nonprofit organizations such as Witness for Peace and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom have resulted in the production of documentaries that are used both inside and outside the classroom. She is founding member of the Peace and Justice Center in Burlington, Vermont.

           Robin extensively filmed the Bread and Puppet pageants in the 1990s, which will provide our documentary with rich archival material. Her films about Bread and Puppet include GATES OF HELL, MEN WITH TEETH, CONVENTION OF THE GODS, BROKEN OFF LETTER and COLUMBUS AND THE NEW WORLD ORDER. 

How YOU Can Help!

            We need to raise $250,000 to complete editing on BREAD & PUPPET: THE THEATER OF PETER SCHUMANN.

           YOUR TAX-DEDUCTIBLE CONTRIBUTION will help us finish and launch our feature-length film/multi-part documentary series!

• From The Heart Productions is our 501 (c) (3) tax-exempt, non-profit fiscal sponsor.
• Tax-deductible online donations can be made here, by clicking on the Donate Panel above. 
• Tax-deductible checks should be made out to our tax-exempt 501 (c) (3) fiscal sponsor: “From The Heart Productions” and write “Bread and Puppet Film Project” in the memo line.

         Mail to: Turning Tide Films, 2509 Shaftsbury Hollow Road, North Bennington, VT 05257

• Help us organize a fundraising party for BREAD & PUPPET: THE THEATER OF PETER SCHUMANN
• If you can introduce us to a potential major donor, please contact us.

Contact:

Robbie Leppzer • [email protected] • (802) 447-0035

Thank you for donating to BREAD & PUPPET: THE THEATER OF PETER SCHUMANN!