45365, An Evocative Look at Daily Life in One Small Ohio Town, to Premiere on the PBS Series Independent Lens on Tuesday, December 14, at 10pm

(San Francisco, CA) 45365, a film by first-time directors (and brothers) Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross, explores the nuances of everyday life in their hometown of Sidney, Ohio; with the title coming from the town's zip code. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2009 South by Southwest Film Festival and the Roger and Chaz Ebert Truer than Fiction Award at the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards, 45365 will premiere on the Emmy® and Peabody award-winning PBS series Independent Lens on Tuesday, December 14, 2010, at 10pm (check local listings). 

45365 deftly captures the complexities and ambiguities of the shared experience of the 20,000 residents of Sidney, Ohio. From the patrol car to the courtroom, the playground to the nursing home, the parade to the prayer service, the film explores their relationships and interactions – with each other and with their environment. Father and son, boyfriend and girlfriend, cop and criminal, officials and citizens, patrons and providers, 45365 layers small moments upon small moments to create a moving and nuanced portrait of the town and its people. 

Eschewing direct interviews or staging of scenes, 45365 presents the residents of Sidney as they are in their daily lives. Using a series of long kinetic shots, the viewer is able to exist in real time with those being documented, with the camera closing in on the mechanics of the moment with spontaneity and sincerity. 

Filmed over the course of nine months by two men raised in the town, 45365 quietly encapsulates the magnitude of small town America, one fleeting moment at a time. 

To learn more about the film, and the issues involved, visit the companion website for 45365 at www.pbs.org/independentlens/45365. Get detailed information on the film, watch preview clips, read an interview with the filmmakers, and explore the subject in depth with links and resources. The site also features a Talkback section, where viewers can share their ideas and opinions. 

About the Filmmakers 
Bill and Turner Ross’s debut feature film, 45365, was the winner of 2009’s SXSW Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature.  They have gone on to receive numerous awards and nominations, including the Independent Spirit Truer Than Fiction Award; nominations for Editing, Cinematography, and Debut Feature at the Cinema Eye Honors; and a nomination for the London BFI Grierson Award.  Their documentary, fiction, and multimedia short films have been featured at museums and film festivals throughout the world.  

About Independent Lens
Independent Lens is an Emmy® Award-winning weekly series airing on PBS. The acclaimed anthology series features documentaries and a limited number of fiction films united by the creative freedom, artistic achievement, and unflinching visions of their independent producers. Independent Lens features unforgettable stories about unique individuals, communities, and moments in history. Presented by ITVS, the series is supported by interactive companion websites, and national publicity and community engagement campaigns. Independent Lens is jointly curated by ITVS and PBS, and is funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people, with additional funding provided by PBS and the National Endowment for the Arts. The series producer is Lois Vossen. 

For the program companion website, visit pbs.org/independentlens/45365

CONTACT

Voleine Amilcar, ITVS, 415-356-8383 x 244, voleine_amilcar@itvs.org 

Mary Lugo, 770-623-8190, lugo@negia.net 

Cara White, 843-881-1480, cara.white@mac.com 

For downloadable images, visit http://pressroom.pbs.org