Career
McElwee's film career began in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina where he was a studio cameraman for local evening news, housewife helper shows, and "gospel hour" programs. Later, he freelanced, shooting films for documentarians D.A. Pennebaker followed by John Marshall, in Namibia. McElwee started filming and producing his own documentaries in 1976.
Ross McElwee has been teaching filmmaking at Harvard University since 1986 where he is a professor in the Department of Visual and Environmental Studies.
Ross McElwee has made eight feature-length documentaries as well as several shorter films. Most of his films were shot in his homeland of the American South, among them the critically acclaimed Sherman's March, Time Indefinite, Six O'Clock News, and Bright Leaves. He collaborated with his girlfriend and later wife, Marilyn Levine, on Something to do with the Wall. His 2011 film, Photographic Memory, breaks new ground in McElwee's contributions to cinéma vérité, not only in its fully digital process, but in its open development and production structure.
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