A filmmaker living his life on screen, Ross McElwee has returned to documentary production after a fourteen year absence, tying in his early films with his latest. In 1985, McElwee released Sherman’s March, intended to be an exploration of the Civil War general’s “March to the Sea” and its effects into the Twentieth Century. His focus shifts, however, as he repeatedly develops feelings for various women only to have his romantic dreams dashed by reality. A personal essay film about love and loss, it earned the Grand Jury prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 1987. Decades later, Hollywood has come to call, seeking to make a fictional series based on Sherman’s March, which forms part of the spine of his latest film, Remake. The other narrative thread is his relationship with his son, who lived his entire life in between the films, bringing the narrative full circle.
Dates and Titles:
September 4: Sherman’s March (Ross McElwee, US 1985, 157 min., DCP)
September 5: Remake (Ross McElwee, US 2025, 114 min., DCP)
Events in this Series
Remake (DCP)
Two by McElwee Ross McElwee’s films have often been autobiographical and his last film, Photographic Memories, shows the director trying to understand his teenage son, Adrian, by digging into his own past and maturation.
Sherman's March (DCP)
Two by McElwee Winner of the 1987 Sundance Film Festival’s Grand Jury Prize (Documentary), Sherman’s March is a cinéma vérité documentary epic that follows filmmaker Ross McElwee on a quest to explore the devastating effects of General William Tecumseh Sherman’s military campaign across Georgia during the American Civil War.