Home2009

Armed with an ancient Hi-8 video camera (with a broken microphone) and a decrepit Super-8 film camera, filmmaker Broderick Fox travelled between Berlin and Los Angeles with his German partner, on an autobiographical search for home and for himself. Years later, Fox pulls these tapes and reels of footage out of a drawer and crafts this documentary: an ode to Berlin, a coming of age story and a tribute to first love in equal parts. This work is part of Fox's present exploration of "alternative home movies," telling the stories often silenced or forgotten behind the smiling faces of family albums and home videos. Fox was compelled to rework the HOME material in the wake of the 2008 passage of Proposition 8 in California, a voter referendum banning recognition of gay marriage in the state. A similar ballot measure in 2000, Proposition 22, contributed in part to the dissolution of his transnational relationship. HOME was written, shot, produced and edited by Fox, all for under $200, underscoring that complex, emotional work can be made without access to specialized technologies or professional budgets.