American Movie

American Movie is a 1999 American documentary film directed by Chris Smith, produced by Smith and Sarah Price, and edited by Jun Diaz and Barry Poltermann. The film chronicles the making of Coven, an independent short horror film directed by Wisconsin-based filmmaker Mark Borchardt. Produced for the purpose of financing Northwestern, a feature film Borchardt wishes to make, Coven suffers from a troubled production, from a lack of planning to the ineptitude of the friends and family whom Borchardt enlists as his cast and crew. American Movie received generally positive reviews, and won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. It has since been considered a cult film. Background Filmed between September 1995 and August 1997, American Movie documents the making of Coven, an independent short horror film directed by filmmaker Mark Borchardt. Produced for the purpose of raising capital for Northwestern, a feature film Borchardt intends to make, Coven suffers from numerous setbacks, including poor financing, a lack of planning, Borchardt's burgeoning alcoholism, and the ineptitude of the friends and family he enlists as his production team. The documentary follows Borchardt's filmmaking process from script to screen, and is interspersed with footage from both of Borchardt's developing projects. The film was a critical success upon its debut and won the Grand Jury Prize for Documentary at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival. It has since gone on to be considered a cult film.