American Passages

A disillusioned Iraq veteran, gay adoptive fathers, white party animals and a pimp in Las Vegas. Ruth Beckermann starts her quest in New York and goes all the way across the continent, through a total of eleven states - to apartment blocks where people have a lot of children and little money, to parties, prisons and memorials, to private houses threatened by repossession, to courtrooms, universities, and a casino. And to the many ""non-places"" in between: Highways restaurants, gas stations, and motorways. The extreme contrasts of black and white, rich and poor, winners and losers are often as surprising as the meaning of the constitutional right to the pursuit of happiness in these times of crisis.

Keywords

  • Diagonale - Festival of Austrian Film
  • Ruth Beckermann
  • community
  • lifestyle
  • politics
  • road movie
  • sixpackfilm
  • urban living

Actors

  • Michael Vogt
  • Bobbie Martin
  • Sheila Jackson-Johnson
  • the Stack family

Director

  • Ruth Beckermann

Documentary, Independent


2h


16+

EN


DE

Austria
2011
An epic documentary panorama about a journey through the United States.

An epic documentary panorama about a journey through the United States.


A disillusioned Iraq veteran, gay adoptive fathers, white party animals and a pimp in Las Vegas.


Ruth Beckermann starts her quest in New York and goes all the way across the continent, through a total of eleven states - to apartment blocks where people have a lot of children and little money, to parties, prisons and memorials, to private houses threatened by repossession, to courtrooms, universities, and a casino. And to the many ""non-places"" in between: Highways restaurants, gas stations, and motorways.


The extreme contrasts of black and white, rich and poor, winners and losers are often as surprising as the meaning of the constitutional right to the pursuit of happiness in these times of crisis.

Festivals

Cast & Crew