Sherman's March

General William Tecumseh Sherman was an important figure in the American Civil War. He was made famous by a march from Atlanta to the sea, through Georgia and North and South Carolina. In a journey to his native South, director Ross McElwee follows in Sherman's footsteps. Far more than the past, he meets with aspects of the present, including the persistent differences in a now unified society that was once divided against itself. All of this is set against the threat of a future nuclear war that leads the director to have bad dreams. McElwee returns to the land of his birth after breaking up with his girlfriend, leading him to take his sister's advice to turn his camera on any southern women he is attracted to as a way of breaking the ice. Therefore the camera is not just a mere tool, but also an initiator of many situations that surprise with their intimacy or absurdity. Above all this stands the figure of General Sherman as an icon of masculinity. This 1986 picture won the main jury prize at Sundance.