American Movie

Part of The Loft Cinema’s summer series, 1999! BEST. MOVIE. YEAR. EVER.

Copies of the acclaimed book, Best. Movie. Year. Ever. How 1999 Blew Up the Big Screen by Brian Raftery, will be available for sale at the box-office during this series!

“Ambitious and wildly funny! A madcap tribute to a beer-guzzling Midwestern filmmaker – and indie film spirit in general.”– Glenn Lovell, Variety

The award-winning hit of the 1999 Sundance Film Festival, the cult favorite documentary American Movie is the hilarious and moving story of one man’s burning obsession to make movies against all odds. Working-class Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, is a long way from Hollywood, but aspiring filmmaker Mark Borchardt has a dream. Armed with a driving ambition and nothing to lose, the fast-talking Borchardt enlists friends, local thespians and unwilling family members to help him finish his no-budget horror film, Coven, which he hopes will help him raise funds for a more personal project called Northwestern. Plagued by lack of cash, unreliable help and numerous personal problems, Mark, fighting life with a beer in one hand and a 16mm camera in the other, displays a fearlessness that’s equally hilarious and inspiring, often at the very same moment. With the assistance of his charmingly affable pal Mike Schank (an acid-casualty now sober who’s able to play Metallica songs on the guitar while blindfolded), Mark struggles to move forward and live his movie-making dreams in this funny and surprisingly heartfelt documentary portrait of a true American character. (Dir. by Chris Smith, 1999, USA, 107 mins., Rated R)