Brent Maher

Sam always seems to make the wrong decision. A convicted computer hacker, he's single, jaded and barred from using the internet. Forced to crash on his brother's couch, he makes ends meet by working at the local Twistee Treat and stealing mail while disguised as a postal worker. Then, a single pink envelope changes everything. Handwritten by a heartsick Josie to her late husband, the tender missive awakens something in Sam.

"The Ballad of Bering Strait" is a cinema-verite film following seven Russian teenagers who have come to America to become country music stars. Principle photography began in July 1999 when the band, Bering Strait, entered the United States and began recording their first album in Nashville. The film documents the band responding to the twists and turns of the recording industry, rehearsing for their tour, preparing for their debut concert at the Grand Ole Opry, charting the course for their career with their managers, and living every-day life on the farm where they reside in rural Tennessee. The crew traveled with the band to their homes in Obninsk, Russia and to their music conservatories in Moscow, documenting how these two girls and five boys became so adept at playing American country music.