When the random number generator spat back DVD 5234 at me, I assumed this was going to be a documentary or biographical film about the infamous outlaw. Not so! Instead, Jennifer Venditti’s 2007 documentary follows Billy, an oddball, outsider teenager in rural Maine. The film won Best Documentary at the 2007 South by Southwest festival. Here’s our summary:
The story of Billy, an articulate but isolated fifteen-year-old boy trying to figure out life and death, love, and rock and roll. Billy
wanders through a small town in Maine, trying to traverse the
frustrating gap between imagination and reality.
The film is an intriguing look at the type of teenager you could find at almost any high school in the US, but there’s something about Billy that’s bursting with a unique energy.