American Movie

Director: Chris Smith

1999 / 107min / 35mm

Between 1995 and ’97, Smith stuck to Milwaukee would-be auteur Mark Borchardt, chronicling his efforts, with the help of best friend Mike Schank to complete a short horror film, Coven. Borchardt is a heavy drinker mired in debt who lives with his parents, and by no means a proven talent, but Smith’s sympathy for his floundering fellow filmmaker is abundantly evident in every frame, and while Smith mines the travails of no-budget filmmaking for comedy gold—Borchardt and Schank make a great double act—a sense of tender camaraderie suffuses the film. You’ll never pronounce “Coven” without a long “O” again.