The American Sector

The American Sector is an exemplary work of cinema as political action, and proof (if any were needed) that the activist element of a film is inseparable from its well-conceived form.

In short, there’s no predetermined narrative at play in this concise and elegantly crafted road trip. The terrain it travels is one of open-ended questions, and the spark it ignites has a contrapuntal power.

Stephens and Velez should feel reassured that their three-year venture was not in vain. With “The American Sector,” the two artists crafted a gem—a film that, while tranquil in spirit, assembles a composite sketch of the 21st-century American landscape that shouts with the energy of a thousand voices.

An assured, intelligent piece of filmmaking.

This light and thoughtful documentary road trip still manages to draw a comprehensive map of what the Cold War relic has come to represent — and what freedom means to the people of a nation that’s been defined by its pursuit.

The film accomplishes a restoration of sorts, allowing us to see how historical objects can confer meaning on a new context.