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Jury Prize winner at the recent SXSW Film Festival, Billy the Kid is unquestionably one of the year's highlights of documentary filmmaking, destined to be a classic. Debut filmmaker Jennifer Venditti ventured into a small community in New England, scouting the human fauna of a high school while casting for a feature film. She stumbled on 15-year-old Billy eating alone in the cafeteria and became transfixed by his unique personality. It takes no time at all to see what attracted Venditti to Billy but it's the profound humanity, sensitivity and humour of the filmmaking that make this so much more than just an accurate depiction of a troubled teen's life. Capturing his innocence and utter lack of guile - his plain-speaking, his fondness for air guitar and for the shy girl at the diner - Billy the Kid is an exquisite and strangely humbling portrait.
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D Jennifer Venditti P Jennifer Venditti, Chiemi Karasawa WS Cinetic Media TD HDcam/2007/85mins