Adrian McElwee

Filmmaker Ross McElwee trails characters whose stories have been fodder for television news and takes their tales of loss and longing further than the requisite sound bite. In the process, he examines how the medium works and exposes its limitations.

After documentarian Ross McElwee gets married, a series of misfortunes follow: his grandmother dies, his wife miscarries, and then his father dies less than a week later. Shaken by the sudden string of deaths, McElwee becomes depressed. After spending time with his friend and former high school poetry teacher, Charlene, he goes to meet his brother, a doctor. In a series of interviews, McElwee contemplates his morbid preoccupation with death and tries to figure out how to shake it off.

Ross McElwee retrouve sa Caroline du Nord natale pour remonter la piste fort romanesque de son histoire familiale. Il part sur les traces de son arrière-grand-père, riche propriétaire de plantation de tabac, ruiné par un concurrent trop habile.