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Burning Man Festival

40 minutes | 17 or older | 1997 | United States of America

Documentaries

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Tagline

Documentary on America's largest counter cultural event

Synopsis

This film is the first of two documentaries by Joe Winston on the Burning Man Festival, America's largest countercultural event.

“In style and substance, a terrific piece of work! Try to imagine a combination of ‘Apocalypse Now,’ ‘Woodstock’ and ‘The Road Warrior.’" - Chicago Tribune, August 1996.

For over ten years, this unique gathering has been held in a barren spot of the Nevada Desert. Attracting over 30,000 participants, the burning of the Man culminates a five-day carnival of artistic creativity and deviance from societal norms.

Celebrants dress in costumes, strut naked, dance in the nude, create religions, race in rocket-powered cars, shoot automatic weapons, or do whatever it is they don't get enough of at home. The festival founder refers to this semi-structured anarchy as "a laboratory for reinventing civilization." Experience it on video – it’s cooler and less dusty than actually going out to the desert.

Director's Statement

This documentary is an often humorous travel adventure film, providing a guided tour of the Burning Man Festival, in all its wondrous strangeness. Festival organizers and participants each weigh in with a kaleidoscopic variety of viewpoints of just what the festival is really all about. Some argue that Burning Man is a complete utopian society, others blurt out that it's "just another excuse to get naked." As a viewer, you get to decide who's right, but you won't be bored for a moment.

Directed by: Joe Winston
Written by: Joe Winston
Produced by: Joe Winston

Cast

Thatcher: Larry Harvey
Dawn: John Law
Gabe: Dan Miller
Chun-hee: Paul Pomerleau
Wol-ryeong: Jengis Alpar
daughter: Anton Kast

Crew

Tug Boat Captian: John Marston
Tug Boat Captian: Aaron Landy
Tug Boat Captian: Scott Beale
Tug Boat Captian: Larry Harvey
Tug Boat Captian: Beyond Race
Tug Boat Captian: Fantuzzi
Tug Boat Captian: Dimension Seven

This documentary was shot in the summer of 1995, back when the Burning Man Festival attracted "only" 4,000 participants. Back then it was possible to actually see the entire event and visit most all of the artists in the four days it lasted. Ten years later, the spirit of the event is much the same, despite its rapid growth - although the organizers, for obvious safety reasons, no longer permit the fast driving and sport-shooting of automatic weapons depicted in this film.

  • Joe Winston

    Director

    Joe Winston