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Beverly Mebane Helms, Kacey Bates Patrick, Kristy Olson Cuthbert, Sara Frampton, Susan Frampton

Photo by: Leslie Cantu/Journal Scene

Susan and Sara Frampton were profiled in an award-winning documentary that examined women who hunt.

A group of local women got their 15 minutes of fame last month by being themselves – women who hunt.

Hunting is just one aspect of their lives, but it can seem unusual to the majority of Americans – particularly when the women are well-coiffed, stylish and feminine.

Director Maria White explored that dichotomy in her short film The Debutante Hunters, which won the Shorts Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 28.

White grew up in Summerville and attended Summerville High School with best friend Kristy Olson Cuthbert.

The two were college roommates and became godmothers to each other’s children, Cuthbert said.

About five years ago, White said, Cuthbert started sending venison for Christmas. White was intrigued that her friend, a very feminine woman, a hairdresser and a mother, was also a hunter and eventually asked if she could come along on a hunt.

“It really for me challenged stereotypes I had about hunting,” White said.

She began to think of making a documentary about female hunters and asked Cuthbert to get her in touch with other women.

Cuthbert reached out to the mother and daughter team of Susan and Sara Frampton. Cuthbert used to babysit Sara so her mom and dad could go out hunting, and when Sara grew older she babysat Cuthbert’s children so Cuthbert could hunt.

The Framptons agreed to be filmed, though they really wondered why anyone would even be interested, but then heard nothing for several months.

Then White blew into town like a hurricane and the Framptons found themselves being filmed at home and at their leased hunting land in Holly Hill, on the edge of the Four Hole Swamp.

Making the movie was a surprising amount of work, said Cuthbert, who was a producer in addition to being featured in the film.

“I had no idea how much work would go into a 12-minute film,” she said.

Yet doing the film was rejuvenating, she said.

“I was excited to show people this world,” Cuthbert said.

Susan Frampton started hunting to spend time with her husband, Lewis. Sara Frampton grew up with hunting as part of her life, and it wasn’t until middle or high school that she realized that most moms didn’t hunt.

“Having my mom hunt taught me I don’t have to be in one box or another,” she said.

Her mom hunted, but she also threw great cocktail parties and was a businesswoman, Sara Frampton said.

Sara Frampton’s childhood friend Kacey Bates Patrick, the only other girl she knew who hunted, and White’s cousin-in-law, Beverly Mebane Helms, also agreed to appear in the movie.

White got funding from the South Carolina Film Commission and then from the website Kickstarter to fund the film, her first documentary. On her crew, she got help from two “amazing” Trident Technical College students.

White filmed the hunters in the woods and had them talk about how they feel about hunting, the land and being outdoors.

The Framptons got to see the film on DVD first, which was sort of like a “really fancy home movie,” but seeing themselves on the big screen in Park City, Utah was a surreal experience, they said.

“I didn’t even feel like we were watching ourselves,” Susan Frampton said.

Being at Sundance was an amazing experience, they said.

“For a brief moment in time we felt like movie stars,” Susan Frampton said.

The festival was exactly like you see on TV, Sara Frampton said.

And it was fun being recognized on the street, they said.

Being at the festival was a whirlwind of parties, food, late nights and discussions, Cuthbert said. The film was screened six times at the festival and once at a local high school.

One of the best parts was when people would recognize her and tell her that the film had changed their view of hunting, Cuthbert said.

“I just want people to realize and recognize that this is good for the animal population and this is a way of feeding your family and this is a way of making memories,” she said.

Even is someone doesn’t want to try out hunting, she’d still encourage getting out into the woods, she said.

What will happen next with the film is a work in progress. The Framptons went in with “zero expectations,” they said, so they’ve been pleasantly surprised by the recognition.

White has hours more of film and said she’s always thought the idea had possibilities as a longer film or as a docu-series and she’s talking to producers now about expanding the project.

Even as she works on that, White and her husband are working on some feature-length projects and hope to return to the Lowcountry soon to film them.

Watch the video below:

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