Tarnation

Filmmaker Jonathan Caouette used Macintosh software to assemble his home videos, amateur movies, snapshots, and other keepsakes and documents into a striking film record of his own blighted family history: his schizophrenic mother; his troublesome grandparents; the early abuse he suffered at the hands of a succession of foster families; and, most poignant and heartening of all, his own efforts to heal the psychic damage of it all. Caouette famously assembled his film for just $218.32 (though much more was spent to make it theatrically presentable). As impressive as that achievement is, it pales next to the searing candor and compassion he brings to the harrowing story he has to tell.