American Passages

American Passages reveals some of the movements in society which finally result in the election of Donald Trump. At the same time the film is an impressive road-traveling collage of the U.S. at the advent of the Obama era. Although the film was ostensibly made to honor Robert Frank‘s famed 1958 photo essay, ”The Americans,“ no knowledge of that work is necessary to grasp Beckermann’s aims: snapshot cinematic views of a massive country in a moment in time, spanning races, classes and geographies like a peripatetic anthropologist. (Robert Koehler)



Initially, there’s that moment of happiness: an African-American celebrating in Harlem cheers “We’re free!” as if Barack Obama’s victory meant the ultimate end of slavery.
American Passages is an associative journey through the United States: a disillusioned Iraq veteran, gay adoptive fathers, black judges, white party animals and a pimp at a casino table in Las Vegas.
The extreme contrasts of black and white, rich and poor, winners and losers are often as surprising as the meaning of the constitutional right to the pursuit of happiness in these times of crisis.
An epic panorama of America.




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Orig. Title
American Passages
Year
2011
Country
Austria
Duration
120 min
Director
Ruth Beckermann
Category
Documentary
Orig. Language
English
Subtitles
English, German
Downloads
Credits
Director
Ruth Beckermann
Cinematography
Antoine Parouty, Lisa Rinzler
Camera Assistant
Richard Fricker, Matt Turner, Michael Parry
Music
Waitstill Baxter
Sound
Atanas Tcholakov
Editing
Dieter Pichler
Sound
Matthew Dennis
Editing Assistant
Peter Jaitz
Sound Assistant
Diego Reiwald, Benny Martin
Recording
David Ward
Sound Editing
Atanas Tcholakov
Sound Mix
Bernhard Maisch
Dramaturgical Advisor
Gertraud Luschützky
Colour Correction
Kurt Hennrich
Postproduction
Marie Tappero
Research
Nick Prokesch, Richard Fricker, Diego Reiwald, Peter Stastny, Chelsea Smith, Kaitlyn Plum, Frances Bartlett, Gabe Jones, Winston Jones, Matthew O`Brien, Sabine Schlunk, Eddie Fickett
Additional camera
Eric Goover, Johannes Hammel
Executive Producer
Ursula Wolschlager
Artwork
Oliver Neumann
Executive Producer
Marisa Lloredo Saenz, Ruth Beckermann, Karen Annarino
Co-Producer
Gabriele Kranzelbinder
Production Assistance
Ruth Kaaserer, Daniela Praher
Supported by
Österreichisches Filminstitut, ORF Film/Fernseh-Abkommen, Filmfonds Wien
Available Formats
35 mm (Distribution Copy)
Aspect Ratio
1:1,85
Sound Format
Dolby 5.1.
Frame Rate
25 fps
Color Format
colour
DCP 2K flat (Distribution Copy)
Aspect Ratio
1:1,85
Sound Format
Dolby 5.1.
Frame Rate
25 fps
Color Format
colour
Festivals (Selection)
2011
Paris - Cinéma du Réel
Montréal - RIDM Rencontre Int. du Film Documentaire
2012
Graz - Diagonale, Festival des Österreichischen Films
Buenos Aires Festival Int. de Cine Independiente BAFICI