Interviews in the Michael Moore/"Roger and Me" tradition examine life in small-town America, class conflicts and the collapse of an upstate New York community, Dadetown, when the town's once-prosperous factory, reduced to the manufacture of paper clips and staples, finally closes. Facing massive unemployment, the blue-collar Dadetown residents next find yuppies moving into town to staff the local division of a big computer outfit.
Direction
Hexter's deadpan commitment to the fake-doc bit never wavers.
Writing
Interviews so real you'll Google if Dadetown exists.
Production
Gritty 16mm aesthetic screams 'we made this for nothing'.
Director
Russ Hexter
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Hexter shot this for roughly $30,000, casting mostly non-actors from upstate New York who improvised within loose scenarios.
Released months before The Blair Witch Project, Dadetown helped pioneer the 'is this real?' marketing tension that would define 90s indie horror.
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