Mark Borchardt appears in Chris Smith’s documentary “American Movie,” which premiered at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival.
By Lucy Spicer
At Sundance Institute, we’re always in awe of the power independent film has to bring people together. That’s why we love asking filmmakers to name their favorite Sundance Institute–supported projects, both in our “Give Me the Backstory” feature series and through surveys like the top 10 feature films from the first four decades of the Sundance Film Festival. When a single film resonates with many filmmakers — from different backgrounds and with varying life experiences and artistic styles — a bond is created, rooted in a common love for independent film and universal stories. To commemorate some of our most-mentioned titles over the years, we’ve compiled responses from filmmakers who want to share their love for their favorite Sundance Institute–supported films.
When you think of a documentary, what comes to mind? A film that’s educational? Thought-provoking, but perhaps very serious? Nonfiction films can get glossed over by those who turn to cinema for unchecked entertainment, but, by definition, documentaries just have to relay factual events. Nowhere does it say that those events can’t be entertaining. After all, haven’t there been moments in your real life that were laugh-out-loud funny?
American Movie — which won the Grand Jury Prize: Documentary at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival — is undeniably funny. Directed by Chris Smith, the documentary is full of participants with such bold, unapologetic personalities that one could be forgiven for wondering if the film is really a work of nonfiction. But although the laughs are plentiful, American Movie is also full of heart. At its core, it’s a film about chasing your dreams, even when myriad outside obstacles and personal struggles stand in the way.
Taking place in and around Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, the documentary follows aspiring indie filmmaker Mark Borchardt as he attempts to get production underway for his horror short film titled Coven. (He really wants to work on a feature-length film he’s been planning for years, but he’s having trouble getting traction on that project, so Coven has to come first.) Borchardt isn’t exactly rolling in money, so virtually every aspect of the production is DIY. Funding is largely provided by his uncle Bill, whose memory is not what it once was, and Borchardt relies on other family and friends — including close friend Mike Schank, an especially memorable figure who passed away in 2022 — for many other aspects of the film, from extras to music to camerawork. And it’s abundantly clear that the majority of these folks have never worked on a film before.
The obstacles in Borchardt’s way go beyond securing finances. He struggles with alcoholism, and he has three children with his estranged ex-wife, to whom he has trouble paying child support. These more serious moments in American Movie are emotional and grounding, and they present a stark contrast to humorous shots of Coven’s disorganized extras or scenes like the one where Borchardt’s mother is tasked with operating a camera. But through it all, Borchardt’s larger-than-life personality demonstrates a drive and a dream that is relatable to any artist trying to get their career off the ground — especially to independent filmmakers working to realize their projects with bare-bones budgets.
Below, some of the Sundance Film Festival alumni who love American Movie as much as we do describe in their own words why the film remains a favorite more than 25 years after its release.
“Chris Smith’s American Movie is funny, sad, painfully awkward, and full of heart. I love to return to it whenever I’m chasing a new dream and it feels like me against the world. The film taught me that pursuing a passion may seem delusional to others, but you don’t need to ask for permission — just go out and do it, no matter the obstacles.” — Matthew Bonifacio, Lbs. (2004 Sundance Film Festival)
“There’s an old screenwriting adage I tried to follow in my career that says, ‘Make the story simple and the characters complicated.’ There’s no story simpler or characters more rich than in American Movie, perhaps the most relatable documentary ever made about filmmaking. Mark Borchardt’s single-minded determination in the face of countless obstacles and the late, great Mike Schank’s unbridled support and optimism serve as a reminder to us all that at the end of the day, it’s a privilege and joy to make movies with your friends. It’s funny, it’s tender, it’s bittersweet, and in 2025 it also serves as an important anthropological document of exactly how one made a no-budget film in the days of shooting and cutting on film.” — Chad Hartigan, This Is Martin Bonner (2013 Sundance Film Festival), Morris from America (2016 Sundance Film Festival)
“American Movie is a treasure. I think every filmmaker sees a piece of themselves in Mark Borchardt. It’s my favorite movie about filmmaking and one of my favorite movies about America. RIP Mike Schank.” — Ben Klein, The Exiles (2022 Sundance Film Festival)
“Mark Borchardt is one of the most enthralling characters I’ve ever met in a film, and American Movie changed my understanding of how funny documentaries can be. I strive to be the type of filmmaker Mark Borchardt is: fighting tooth and nail to make my vision a reality while not taking everything so damn serious all the time. By the end of American Movie, you really can’t help but fall in love with Mark for who he is.” — Alex Pritz, The Territory (2022 Sundance Film Festival; supported by Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program)
“Like the hero of American Movie, Mark Borchardt, I learned to make movies with my friends. We borrowed gear from wherever we could find it and used our homes and families to play as sets and characters (I made my neighbor’s dad wear a toga once). As an adult, I collected a new gang of friends, all united around the shared desire to make films. Over the years, we have made mistakes together and we have made sense of what we are doing together. So, in essence, I’m still doing today just what I did when I was a kid: I make movies with my friends. Which can often feel like we’re dreaming out loud with one another. And whenever I watch American Movie, I’m reminded — at its best, that’s all any of us are ever doing in this work. And isn’t that beautiful?
Also, the friendship between Mike and Mark is one of the great love stories cinema has ever produced.” — Rachel Lambert, Sometimes I Think About Dying (2023 Sundance Film Festival)
“I remember experiencing American Movie as if it was a scripted comedy/tragedy while staying authentically real. As a young artist finding my voice, it was the first time I understood the potential of nonfiction to play as genre, with the same levels of emotional intensity, immersion, and entertainment value as fiction films, and it shaped how I’ve approached the craft going forward. Then, decades later, I’ve been fortunate to have the opportunity to work with the film’s director, Chris Smith, on Skywalkers: A Love Story and continue to learn from him on other collaborations.” — Jeff Zimbalist, Skywalkers: A Love Story (2024 Sundance Film Festival)
“I really loved American Movie, which premiered at the Festival 25 years ago. It was one of the first documentaries that had me laughing out loud. Up to that point, I didn’t realize documentaries could be comedic and tragic at the same time. It was eye-opening. Also, seeing Mark Borchardt struggle to make his art made me realize that I was not the only one out there trying to make films with a ragtag group of friends armed with nothing but a dream, a camera, hot glue, and duct tape. RIP Mike Schank.” — Tony Benna, André is an Idiot (2025 Sundance Film Festival)
“American Movie was the first documentary I saw that made me laugh. I was in film school at the time in Australia, working in a video store (what a cliché). We would get these preview tapes from distributors to advertise smaller films for purchase. Nobody in the store would watch these except me, so over the years I amassed quite the collection of independent films on VHS tapes. American Movie was one such film.
I must have shared that tape with half the class.
On its surface, American Movie seems quite simple — a behind-the-scenes documentary following the misguided attempts of Mark Borchardt, an independent filmmaker desperately trying to make his first movie aided by a dim-witted friend.
It would be easy for the film to simply mock these two goofs in ill-fitting clothes and bad haircuts as they fumble around middle America with a 16 mm camera and buckets of blood. But director Chris Smith takes great care to show us Mark’s humanity, his real struggle in the face of insurmountable odds in pursuit of his dream. Mark becomes a hero of sorts, so the audience isn’t just laughing when things go wrong; they’re simultaneously rooting for him to succeed.
Cut to 20 years later and I get a message from John Battsek, our executive producer on Never Get Busted!, who tells me Chris Smith wants to speak to me. My first thought was, ‘American Movie Chris Smith?’ After five years working with Chris, I understand why he is one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, and he has helped raise my craft as a director to a whole new level.” — David Anthony Ngo, Never Get Busted! (2025 Sundance Film Festival)
Editor’s Note: This feature was published November 5, 2025. We will continue to add to this feature as more Sundance Institute–supported filmmakers contribute their thoughts about the film.
