USA,
2005, 92 min
Shown in 2005
CREDITS
- dir
-
Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer
- prod
-
Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer
- cam
-
Roger McKeever
- editor
-
Carl Weichert
- mus
-
James Dean Jay Byrd, Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer
- source
-
Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer. EMAIL: steven@luckygreendress.com.
- premiere
-
World Premiere
-
COMMENTS
Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer, James Dean Jay Byrd in person.
OTHER
Have y’all heard of Y’all? Fervent fans and the uninitiated alike will be thoroughly charmed by this down-home documentary that follows the queer country duo on their musical travels across America. Taking to the road in their stylish trailer home—a comfy yet cramped habitat that serves as inspiration for the titular tune—Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and James Dean Jay Byrd are more than a decade into their curious career, still waiting for the elusive big break that will turn these traveling hillbilly troubadours into full-fledged stars. Out, proud and prodigiously talented, Steven (in overalls) and Jay (in the lucky green dress) strum their guitars, toot their kazoos and harmonize sweetly on “We’re Still Poor and We’re Still Happy” and other shoulda-been hits, but happiness ebbs as endless highway miles and showbiz indifference take their toll. Enter Roger, a fellow free spirit who transforms the dynamic duo into a romantic threesome. Frisky bedfellows don’t necessarily make sympatico bandmates, however, and Roger’s lack of rhythm (he can’t quite shake the can of beans on beat) calls Y’all’s future into question. With catchy tunes, folksy humor and unexpected emotional resonance, Life In a Box resonates like the best country music, a cross between Hank Williams and Minnie Pearl.
—Steven Jenkins
FACTOID #217
A sporadic SFIFF tradition, fashion shows are lighthearted affairs that help raise funds for the Festival. In 1968, Oakland designer Richard Tam mounted a show at the Fairmont Hotel that attracted high society; the Examiner commented that the show ’combined Tam’s simple daytime elegance with his almost theatrical evening gowns.’
