Ross McElwee is no stranger to candor in its most pure and intimate form. Decade after decade, his long, episodic filmography has one distinct and delicate throughline — his own family history. And while each film’s premise is personal to the point of irreplicability, McElwee has codified the broader scope of American ethnographic film into a distinct cinematic tradition of autobiographical inquiry.
Originally from North Carolina, McElwee first set this influential precedent with Sherman’s March (1985), in which the director’s initial...
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