A film by Sonja Heiss
Jerry Davis disappeared. His childhood friend searches for the trace Jerry left behind. He travels through the U.S.A. and meets people, who were close to Jerry. Just like Jerry they come from the lower white class, get by with McJobs and believe in the future. 'Karma Cowboy' ends with sentences from Douglas Coupland’s novel "Generation X":Most of us have only two or three genuinely interesting moments in our lives; the rest is filler. And at the end of our lives, most of us will be lucky if any of those moments connected together to form a story that anyone would find remotely interesting. The filmmakers Sonja Heiss and Vanessa van Houten tell one of those stories. They let their first-person narrator travel across the U.S.A from Detroit to Las Vegas in search of his childhood friend Jerry Davis. He meets Jerry’s friends, relatives and lovers who talk about him. "Karma Cowboy" is a compact, precisely told road movie. It takes the viewer to the other end of the American Dream. The characters in the film are marginal figures who eke out an existence doing dismal jobs. Some of them hope they’ll become famous some day. They believe in Elvis and Madonna. Others are afraid of aliens. With a good eye for detail, Sonja Heiss and Vanessa van Houten observe this authentic way of life.
A film that confronts us with life’s contradictions, a life that is like a journey, constantly in search of meaning and experience, always leaving traces behind. Short bright moments of hope and fragile dreams brighten up everyday life.
Co-produced by Komplizen Film, the HFF München and Rem.Doku
Linda
Sherry Milam
Sam
Jimmy Chen
Pheran
Pheran Milam
Arthur
Arthur
Barbara
Jennifer Shea
Sandy
Sandra White-Kelemen
Mrs Faver
Martha Faver
John
John Porcaro
Mann im Wohnwagen
Wayne Middleton
Alter Mann
William Dudy
Faith
Faith Gazic
Alte Stimme
Gale Townsend
Directed by
Sonja Heiss
Vanessa van Houten
Screenplay
Sonja Heiss
Baran Bo Odar
Director of Photography
Nikolai von Graevenitz
Editing
Yuval Zafrir
Narrator
Paul Shottner
Original Music
Jeff Tarlton
Production Manager
Evi Stangassinger
Producers
Maren Ade, Janine Jackowski (Komplizen Film)
Ernst Kalff
Visions du Réel – International Documentary Film Festival
Prix Regards Neufs
Filmfest München
Bayerischer Dokumentarfilmpreis "Der Junge Löwe"
Mikrokino Festival
Shortfilm Festival Landshut
Istanbul International Short Film Festival
Visions du Réel, International Documentary Film Festival
International Documentary Film Festival Munich
International Student Film Festival Potsdam Sehsüchte
International Student Film Festival Munich
Film Festival di Bizzarie in San Benidetto del Tronto
Documentary Film Festival Leipzig
Kalamata International Documentary Film Festival
Film Festival of the German Film
Documentary Film Festival Duisburg
Documentary and Video Film Festival Kassel
Film Festival L´Alternativa, IX Independent Film Festival of Barcelona
Festival de Creaciòn Audiovisual
Documentary Film Festival Taiwan
Rotterdam International Film Festival
International Documentary Film Festival
TaiwanJeonjou International Film Festival
Sudkorea Kalamata International Documentary Film Festival
Auswahl der Exportunion des deutschen Films für die Festivals des deutschsprachigen Dokumentarfilms ) London, Edinburgh, Dundee
u.a.