Anywhere USA

Directed by: Chusy Haney-Jardine

year: 2008 107 minutes

Winner of the "Special Jury Prize" at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.

In a trailer deposited in an unkempt pastoral glade, a woman who used to be an alternate on her high school tennis team beats her boyfriend senseless once a week. She beats him, 'cause, well he deserves it. It’s his act of redneck contrition. Meanwhile, an eight-year-old girl finds accidental elucidation; the sort of awakening that makes her wonder if that guy next door driving the ‘89 Subaru is, in fact, the guy she thinks he is. On the other side of the tracks, over there where posh beards, Kobe beef steaks and manicured gardens go hand in hand, a man of privilege has an epiphany at the dinner table that ultimately leads to a contusion and a revelation. Told in three subtly related segments (Penance, Loss, and Ignorance), ANYWHERE USA is a du jour portrait of one man’s America inspired by and drawn from the director’s own experiences as both foreigner and citizen of these United States. Featuring a cast of mostly non-professionals and exploring passive racism, geo-political vagaries, good intentions, faith and disappointment, this deeply personal film manages to tread the lines between vulgar and humane, between absurd and tender, and finds its heart in the story segment featuring the director’s own daughter and a man living in a van. Part satire, part tragedy, part masterpiece theatre gone awry, ANYWHERE USA is a comedy of manners that defies gravity.