Full list of 2008 films and events...
2003 107 min. Color
This documentary, by acclaimed filmmaker Ross McElwee,describes a journey taken across the social, economic, and psychological tobacco terrain of North Carolina by McElwee, a native Carolinian whose great-grandfather created the famous brand of tobacco known as "Bull Durham." "Bright Leaves" is a subjective, autobiographical meditation on the allure of cigarettes and their troubling legacy for the state of North Carolina. It's about loss and preservation, addiction and denial. The film also explores the notion of legacy -- what one generation passes down to the next -- and how this can be a particularly complicated topic when the legacy under discusssion is a Southern one and is tied to tobacco. This film is included in the Oxford American Magazine's list of Essential Southern Documentaries.
Bright Leaves
Ross McElwee, Director, Producer2003 107 min. Color
This documentary, by acclaimed filmmaker Ross McElwee,describes a journey taken across the social, economic, and psychological tobacco terrain of North Carolina by McElwee, a native Carolinian whose great-grandfather created the famous brand of tobacco known as "Bull Durham." "Bright Leaves" is a subjective, autobiographical meditation on the allure of cigarettes and their troubling legacy for the state of North Carolina. It's about loss and preservation, addiction and denial. The film also explores the notion of legacy -- what one generation passes down to the next -- and how this can be a particularly complicated topic when the legacy under discusssion is a Southern one and is tied to tobacco. This film is included in the Oxford American Magazine's list of Essential Southern Documentaries.
