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D: Chris Smith.

Documentary Feature Special Screenings, Regional Premiere No sophomore slump for Mr. Smith. The director who unleashed Mike Schank and Mark Borchardt on the unsuspecting psyches of the world with 1999’s genius American Movie returns with a new purely American doc that examines in detail the sometimes curious, always entertaining relationship between five people and the places they call home. “Unassuming” is a good word for Smith’s style of filmmaking; he sets up his camera and lets these oddball, iconoclastic individuals have their say, whether that means living in a tree in a remote Hawaiian valley or owning a house with a rotating living room and a working ski-jump coming off the roof. There’s more than a hint of Errol Morris’ sly gamesmanship here as well; Smith never comments directly on the action, but you can tell he’s crazy about all these wacky folks in his own noncommittal fashion, and frankly, so are we.

This article appears in March 15 • 2002.

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