Vespucciland: The Great and the Free

Directed by Rock Ross

Rock Ross described this atypical collaboration as "a celebration of abandon in the parallel nation" and he wasn't being completely tongue-in-cheek. VESPUCCILAND is an exuberant and witty dance for the camera, shot in vivid, defiant color, records half a dozen spitfires (including Ross and fellow San Francisco experimental filmmaker Michael Rudnick) frolicking on a summer morn. Garbed in white costumes and ersatz hoods, the dancers embody the spirits of rebellion, solidarity, anarchy and free expression. Guaranteed to provoke a smile or three, and to evoke nostalgia for the trampled idealism of the 1970s. - Michael Fox