Acting
American Movie documents the story of filmmaker Mark Borchardt, his mission, and his dream. Spanning over two years of intense struggle with his film, his family, financial decline, and spiritual crisis, American Movie is a portrayal of ambition, obsession, excess, and one man's quest for the American Dream.
Experimental filmmaker Robert Nelson brings his characteristic wit to this restaging of the famous “play rehearsal” scene from Hamlet, breaking down the barriers between film, theatre, performance, and creation. “Hamlet Act demonstrates what can be done when a film text is made to oppose a theatrical text, creating a new synthesis. . . Hamlet, caught in the web of psychological forces, is seen through his position between film/video/theatre, as a metaphor for contemporary technology.
In Oh, Rapunzel, when Rapunzel flees the tower, Condit's mother leaves her home for an independent living facility and a freedom that she has never known.
Using experimental narrative structure as his vehicle, Benning recreates the sensationalized and controversial circumstances surrounding Lorencia Bembenek, aka "Bambi", former "Playboy bunny" turned cop, turned accused and convicted killer who disappeared after a daring escape from prison. The film shows the evolution of Benning's and Bembenek's relationship presented through their actual letters read in voice over which depict the filmmaker's curiosity with the subject as it evolves from intrigue to a love obsession.
Unburdened by any sort of narration or pretension to convey a 'message,' the film is a sparkle of human energy sprouting in gospel singing and music. Blau, an experienced photographer, shows us here that he's a real jazz-man of the camera as his eye dances unforcefully with the emotionality of the performers in the film.
