Ross McElwee’s landmark documentary Sherman’s March (1985), which won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary at Sundance in 1987 and was inducted into the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry at the turn of the millennium, triangulates between his search for love, thoughts about nuclear war, and General Tecumseh Sherman. As McElwee retraces the latter’s march through the South, he balances ethnographic inquiries with a diaristic sensibility, creating a humbling portrait of himself and his surroundings. 

Made after a bad break-up, McElwee’s three-hour film about General Sherman’s infamous military campaign of the same name, cannot help but elide its subject with its maker’s heartbreak. As McElwee’s mission to produce a historical documentary is gradually side-stepped by his quest for romance, his film takes on a playful energy, revealing itself as an endearing and vulnerable self-portrait of a man working out his heartache through public self-interrogation. 

“I made Sherman’s March when I was a young guy — or at least a lot younger than I am now. I was a filmmaker with a 16mm camera, a Nagra SN tape recorder, and a small grant to make a documentary about Sherman’s March and its lingering effect on my native South.  A few days before I was to begin shooting, my girlfriend let me know that she wanted to split up.” ROSS MCELWEE

McElwee’s wayward retracing of Sherman’s March results in a series of spontaneous encounters that reveal more about the South than your average historical film. His sudden encounter with a wannabe Burt Reynolds impersonator, much like his run-in with a group of survivalists, provides not only a lively source of comedy and intrigue, but also telling details about the region, which McElwee grew up in and chronicles with both honesty and warmth.

Ross McElwee was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 1947. He studied Creative Writing at Brown University and was later admitted into MIT’s filmmaking graduate program, where he studied under pioneers of the cinéma vérité movement. His thesis film at MIT, Charleen or How Long Has This Been Going On (1978), inaugurated his cinematic investigation of the South, which continued throughout his career. (In fact, Charleen features prominently in Sherman’s March.) His films have played at Cannes, Berlin, Venice, and Rotterdam, among other major film festivals. 

We are happy to report that a 4K restoration of Sherman’s March is in the works, and McElwee is nearing completion on a new film, which explores the death of his son, Adrian, and traces an effort by Hollywood producers to turn Sherman’s March into a work of fiction.

In August, we’re taking a more relaxed pace; our films will screen for two weeks. Text written by Nicolas Pedrero-Setzer.