An improbable search for love. Ross McElwee sets out to make a documentary about the lingering effects of General Sherman’s march of destruction through the South during the Civil War but is continually sidetracked by women who come and go in his life, his recurring dreams of nuclear holocaust, and Burt Reynolds.
A landmark work of American documentary cinema, Sherman’s March won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, was chosen by the International Documentary Association as one of the top twenty documentaries of all time and was selected for preservation by the Library of Congress as a “historically significant American motion picture.” The film helped define first-person documentary as a form and has influenced generations of filmmakers worldwide. It is also the subject, in part, of McElwee’s new film Remake, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2025. To compliment Remake’s 2026 release, a new 4K restoration of Sherman’s March is now available.