Bright Leaves

Hojas radiantes

Ross McElwee

United Kingdom, United States of America

2003

105'

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Description

Part mystery, part ethical inquiry, and part home movie, this brilliant and frequently hilarious documentary explores the cruel twist of fate that has led some to make their fortunes from tobacco, and others to die from it. McElwee returns home to the tobacco farming country of North Carolina to investigate a bit of family lore: that his great-grandfather, who developed the formula for Bull Durham tobacco, might have become very rich had James “Buck” Duke not stolen the formula from him. (MoMA)

Awards and festivals

- Cannes Film Festival - Directors’ Fortnight (2003)
- Toronto International Film Festival
- New York Film Festival
- American Film Institute Festival
- Sydney Film Festival
- Melbourne Film Festival
- New Zealand Film Festival

Biography of the director

Ross McElwee
Ross McElwee received his BA from Brown University followed by an MS from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1977. He freelanced for a few years, shooting for documentarians D.A. Pennebaker in Washington DC, and John Marshall in Namibia before beginning to direct his own documentaries.

Ross McElwee has made eleven feature-length documentaries as well as several shorter films. Sherman's March won numerous awards, including Best Documentary at the Sundance Film Festival. Time Indefinite won Best Film Award in several festivals. Six O'Clock News won Best Documentary at the Hawaii International Film Festival. Bright Leaves premiered at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival’s Directors’ Fortnight. Photographic Memory premiered at the 2011 Venice Film Festival.

McElwee's films have been included in the major festivals of Berlin, London, Vienna, Rotterdam, Florence, Quito, Sydney, Seoul, and Wellington. Retrospectives include the Museum of Modern Art; Art Institute of Chicago; American Museum of the Moving Image, New York; and États généraux du film documentaire in Lussas, France.

Ross McElwee teaches filmmaking at Harvard University where he is a professor in the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies.