OFF THE GRID

By VBS Staff

If the name of the producer of our trip to Imperial Valley, California this week is ringing any bells, congratulations, you have excellent taste in independent documentary filmmaking. Prior to teaming up with us, Randy Stulberg spent a bunch of time in the New Mexican desert, filming one of the most remote and isolated communities in the continental US. For those of you who missed it at any of the kajillion festivals it’s played in the last two years, the whole thing revolves around the community’s old guard of hippie farmers, homeschoolers, and mentally ill trying to deal with the recent arrival of a crew of teen runaways who call themselves the Nowhere Kids, which is putting it in absolutely the most boring terms possible. Seriously, the subjects of Off the Grid make Slab City’s assorted denizens look like homeowners board of Celebration, Florida. You can see some more clips from the film here, or if you’re ready to take the plunge, go here to buy a DVD.