16mm, 40 minutes.  
Backyard 1984
An autobiographical look at the filmmaker's relationship with his father, and his family's
relationship with the black people who have worked for them; a study of the genteel uneasiness underlying black/white relationships in one North Carolina household.

Premiered ICA, Boston
Filmed, narrated, and edited by Ross McElwee



"McElwee’s sense of the absurd combined with a genuine affection for his
subject make him one of the most fascinating filmmakers working in the nonfiction form."
Boston Globe