Ashes of America

With the U.S. economy near a breaking point, these two documentaries explore the different avenues people have taken to cope with the crisis. Mike McSweeney’s hauntingly beautiful “Ashes of America” may be the discovery of this year’s festival and focuses not only on the Occupy Wall Street movement, but moves across space and time to create a stirringly powerful and poetic depiction of the nation of America and its people. Told from the perspective of a British journalist, “Poor America” examines the desperate living conditions people face as unemployment continues to permeate the country and shows us the things about ourselves we might otherwise not see. Together, these films bring us the America we know, the America we imagine, the America we remember, and the America we try to forget. In Person: “Ashes of America” director Michael McSweeney.

With the U.S. economy near a breaking point, these two documentaries explore the different avenues people have taken to cope with the crisis. Mike McSweeney’s hauntingly beautiful “Ashes of America” may be the discovery of this year’s festival and focuses not only on the Occupy Wall Street movement, but moves across space and time to create a stirringly powerful and poetic depiction of the nation of America and its people. Told from the perspective of a British journalist, “Poor America” examines the desperate living conditions people face as unemployment continues to permeate the country and shows us the things about ourselves we might otherwise not see. Together, these films bring us the America we know, the America we imagine, the America we remember, and the America we try to forget. In Person: “Ashes of America” director Michael McSweeney.