AMERICAN MOVIE:
THE MAKING OF NORTHWESTERN

Year: 1999
UK: Columbia Tristar
Cast: Mark Borchardt, Mike Schank
Director: Chris Smith
Country: USA
USA: 107 mins
UK: 104 mins
USA Rated: R for language and some drug
UK Certificate: 15 for frequent strong language, moderate horror and moderate drug references
USA Release Date: 5 November 1999
UK Release Date: 7 July 2000


Synopsis

Filmmaker Mark Borchardt fights his way through internal and external roadblocks to achieve his goal, to make his movie, his way, with the help of his mother, his 82 year-old uncle, and a local cast of hilarious and lovable characters from his home village, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. Mark's vision for his dream film is unlike most in independent filmmaking today. His inspiration comes from films as disparate as THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and THE SEVENTH SEAL, as well as his experiences growing up amidst the grey skies, rusty cars, and ranch houses of Milwaukee's Northwest side. AMERICAN MOVIE: THE MAKING OF NORTHWESTERN is the story of filmmaker Mark Borchardt, his mission, and his dream. Spanning over two years of intense struggle with his film, his family, financial decline, and spiritual crisis, the film is a portrayal of ambition, obsession, excess, and one man's quest for the American Dream.