Northwest Film Forum

O’er the Land is Deborah Stratman’s meditation on freedom and technological approaches to manifest destiny. She captures the marching-band battle cries of the country with a strong, controlled tone that proves its point but is also extremely playful. Stratman documents the wild, wild worlds of gun shows—ones where you can fire machine guns in the forest and literally blow stuff up—reenactments of famous battles with historically accurate weapons and clothes (golf carts and Pepsi trucks in the wings), border disputes and the organized frenzy of cheerleaders and motor homes.  

"O'er the Land is like Foucault's idea of lightning: a flash in the night that gives black intensity to the night it denies..." - Holly Willis, L.A Weekly