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45365
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45365
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45365
Directed byBill Ross IV
Turner Ross
Produced byBill Ross IV
Turner Ross
Edited byBill Ross IV
Release dates
  • March 2009 (2009-03) (SXSW)
  • June 18, 2010 (2010-06-18) (United States)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

45365 is a 2009 American documentary film made by first-time directors the Ross brothers, Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross. The film is about the everyday life of the small town Sidney, Ohio, and the people living in it; the title comes from the town's ZIP Code.

45365 premiered at the 2009 South by Southwest Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize.[1] It won the Roger and Chaz Ebert Truer than Fiction award at the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards.[2] Jeannette Catsoulis has described the film, "A beguiling slice of Midwestern impressionism, 45365 drops in on the residents of Sidney, Ohio, to observe their lunches and haircuts, trials and transgressions."[3]

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45365

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45365 is a 2009 American documentary film directed by brothers Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross, who grew up in the film's setting of Sidney, Ohio—a Midwestern town of approximately 20,000 residents identified by its ZIP code 45365. The film employs a cinéma vérité style to capture the rhythms of small-town life over nine months of filming, weaving together vignettes of community members including families, law enforcement, schoolchildren, and local officials to form a mosaic of shared human experiences in Middle America. Premiering at the South by Southwest Film Festival in 2009, where it won the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature, 45365 marked the feature debut of the Ross brothers and has since been recognized for its intimate, non-narrated portrayal of everyday interactions—from patrol cars and courtrooms to parades and prayer services—highlighting themes of familiarity, social hierarchy, and quiet resilience. Additional accolades include the Independent Spirit Truer Than Fiction Award and nominations for Editing, Cinematography, and Debut Feature at the Cinema Eye Honors. Produced entirely by the directors, the film features original music composed by local musicians and credits contributions from Sidney's police department, schools, churches, and businesses, underscoring its authentic, community-rooted perspective.

Synopsis and style

Narrative structure

The film 45365 adopts a non-linear, observational narrative structure that chronicles daily life in Sidney, Ohio, over approximately one year in 2007, presented through interconnected vignettes rather than a traditional plot or central characters. This approach draws from cinéma vérité traditions, emphasizing unmediated glimpses into community rhythms without imposing external commentary. The structure eschews voiceover narration, scripted dialogue, and talking-head interviews, relying instead on ambient sound, natural lighting, and extended takes to foster immersion in the town's authentic textures and interactions. Filmed over nine months in 2007 with more than 500 hours of footage, it captures vignettes spanning diverse settings—from patrol cars and courtrooms to playgrounds, nursing homes, parades, and prayer services—highlighting relationships across generations, social roles, and local events like high school football games and judicial elections. Organized into loose seasonal segments that mirror Sidney's cyclical patterns, the film progresses from spring and summer vibrancy—evident in carnival rides under fireworks at the county fair and a rain-threatening parade covered by local radio—to autumnal football practices and winter's quiet isolation, culminating in scenes of first snow blanketing an abandoned drive-in theater. Representative vignettes include a high school coach's locker-room pep talk before a homecoming game, a judge soliciting lawn signs for his reelection campaign, teenagers arguing over a video game in a home, and a police officer issuing a DUI to a familiar driver at night. These moments, tied together by recurring motifs like local radio broadcasts and passing trains, evoke the town's interconnected yet understated pulse.

Visual and thematic elements

The documentary 45365 employs handheld cinematography and features non-professional actors—local residents of Sidney, Ohio—to achieve a raw sense of authenticity, immersing viewers in unscripted ordinary moments such as casual diner conversations and unhurried street scenes that unfold without narrative intervention. This observational approach, captured over several months by directors Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross who also served as cinematographers, relies on fluid tracking shots and close-proximity filming in everyday settings like barbershops, front lawns, and community gatherings, evoking the unpolished rhythm of small-town existence. By avoiding staged setups and allowing subjects to interact naturally, often ignoring the camera, the film constructs a mosaic of intimate, lived experiences that prioritize emotional veracity over dramatic contrivance. Recurring themes in 45365 center on community resilience amid economic struggles in a post-industrial town, the subtle racial dynamics shaping interpersonal bonds, and the inexorable passage of time marked by seasonal cycles and generational transitions. These motifs emerge through vignettes of residents navigating job losses, local elections, and familial ties, portraying a collective endurance that binds the community without overt commentary. For instance, scenes of high school football practices and church services underscore a shared fortitude, while glimpses of court proceedings and domestic disputes reveal underlying tensions related to economic hardship and social cohesion, including interracial friendships and neighborhood interactions. The film's structure, spanning from spring to winter, further emphasizes temporal flow, highlighting how daily routines persist despite broader societal shifts in a fading manufacturing landscape. Symbolic imagery permeates 45365, with fading billboards and empty factories serving as poignant markers of industrial decline and nostalgic longing for a prosperous past, contrasted against vibrant youth activities like parades and sports events that signal hope for generational renewal. These visual emblems, often captured in lingering wide shots, evoke a bittersweet nostalgia for small-town Americana, where derelict structures stand as silent witnesses to economic erosion while children's games and community fairs represent continuity and vitality. Such elements subtly weave a tapestry of loss and persistence, inviting viewers to reflect on the town's evolving identity without explicit exposition. The sound design enhances the film's atmospheric immersion by integrating ambient local noises—such as church bells tolling, natural sounds of rain and wind, and snippets of community radio broadcasts—creating a layered auditory backdrop that mirrors the unhurried pace of life without imposing a scored narrative arc. Local radio, in particular, functions as a communal pulse, airing announcements for events like chicken dinners and sports updates, which blend seamlessly with on-site dialogue to foster a sense of place-bound authenticity. This naturalistic audio palette, free from heavy post-production manipulation, allows the town's sonic texture to emerge organically, reinforcing themes of resilience through the familiar hum of everyday endurance.

Production

Development and research

45365 marked the feature-length debut of fraternal filmmakers Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross, who self-financed the project after years of producing short films together. Growing up in Sidney, Ohio, the brothers drew inspiration from their roots in the Midwestern town to document the rhythms of small-town American life, transforming personal nostalgia into a communal portrait rather than fictionalizing their stories. As Turner Ross explained, the film emerged from "stories that we had been trying to hold together of our experience growing up in a small Midwestern town—what that looks like, what that feels like, [and] what those sense memories are." Having left Sidney around age 18 and returned nearly a decade later, they sought to capture its evolving essence amid changes like the shift from a fading downtown to commercial developments along the interstate. The brothers began pre-production by immersing themselves in Sidney, leveraging their local ties to attend community events and build relationships with residents over several months. This groundwork, informed by their intimate knowledge of the town's 20,000 inhabitants and its agricultural and manufacturing heritage, allowed them to outline character archetypes and story threads as if scripting a fiction film, while adapting to the unpredictability of documentary subjects. They developed "type sets" such as pairing youth with elders or officials with community members to ensure a balanced narrative, emphasizing observation over intervention to foster authentic interactions. Conceptually, 45365 was envisioned as a symphonic documentary, a holistic mosaic of the town's daily congruities—from patrols and courtrooms to playgrounds and parades—allowing subjects to reveal the town's social fabric through their own voices and actions, much like a symphony weaving individual movements into a cohesive whole. Securing access posed significant challenges, particularly for sensitive topics like local elections, court proceedings, and personal struggles, as the brothers navigated trust-building without disrupting residents' lives. They relied on personal connections from childhood, such as with the local judge and police, and direct outreach, reassuring potential subjects of their non-exploitative intent: "We’re here in this town not to interview you, not to direct your story, not to exploit you. We really just want to sincerely spend time with you." Despite rejections from a dozen grants due to the project's ambiguous observational style, their persistence led to organic introductions between characters, enabling intimate access to stories like that of a childhood friend recently released from prison.

Filming process

The filming of 45365 spanned nine months in Sidney, Ohio, capturing approximately 500 hours of footage that distilled into a 94-minute portrait of the town's daily rhythms. The Ross brothers, Bill and Turner, opted for lightweight Panasonic DVX100A digital video cameras fitted with shotgun and lavalier microphones, prioritizing mobility to navigate the unpredictable, often spontaneous settings of community life—from patrol cars and courtrooms to playgrounds and fields. This equipment choice facilitated an immersive, fly-on-the-wall vérité style inspired by observational cinema traditions, allowing the directors to document events as they unfolded without scripted interventions or talking-head interviews. The brothers adopted a highly collaborative directing approach, alternating responsibilities for cinematography, sound recording, and observation to minimize their presence and maintain narrative intimacy. Working with a skeleton crew essentially limited to themselves, they often split tasks during shoots—one handling the camera while the other monitored audio or scouted—to reduce intrusion and foster organic interactions with subjects. This method enabled fluid, long takes that captured congruent storylines emerging from character introductions, such as a father-son duo or law enforcement encounters, while adapting a pre-outlined "script" of desired archetypes and visuals to real-life contingencies. Ethical protocols guided the process, with verbal consents obtained from all participants to ensure voluntary involvement and respect for personal boundaries. The filmmakers emphasized sincerity by integrating into subjects' environments, allowing time for trust to build so that individuals could share authentically without prompting, thereby avoiding exploitation of vulnerable community members like those facing unemployment or legal troubles. They consciously selected receptive participants who opened their lives naturally, rejecting moments where subjects performed for the camera in a reality-TV manner, and later edited with care to prevent any condescension toward small-town existence. Logistical challenges abounded, including the project's self-financed nature after rejections from grants due to its non-traditional structure, which strained resources during extended immersion. Outdoor shoots proved particularly demanding, reliant on variable weather that could disrupt captures of seasonal activities, while coordinating with local calendars was essential for community events like the Shelby County Fair, where live broadcasts and parades demanded precise timing to blend into the festivities without altering them. These hurdles underscored the brothers' commitment to a DIY ethos, quitting Hollywood jobs to pursue the film and relying on personal networks for support amid the town's evolving landscape of nostalgia and modernity.

Release

Premiere and distribution

The world premiere of 45365 took place at the South by Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, in March 2009, where it won the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature. Following this debut, the film screened at several other U.S. festivals, including the Newport International Film Festival in June 2009 and the Savannah Film Festival in October 2009. In 2010, 45365 received a limited theatrical release in the United States, distributed by Seventh Art Releasing, beginning on February 26 in New York City and expanding to select additional cities. The rollout was modest, reflecting the film's independent status, and it earned a domestic box office gross of $853. Internationally, the documentary was screened at various film festivals in Europe during 2009 and 2010, broadening its exposure beyond North America. For home viewing, 45365 became accessible via a PBS broadcast premiere on Independent Lens on December 14, 2010. By the 2020s, it had been made available on streaming services such as MUBI; as of 2024, it is also available on fuboTV.

Marketing and promotion

The marketing and promotion of 45365 relied on a low-budget campaign that highlighted the film's authentic, cinéma vérité style to resonate with audiences interested in unfiltered portraits of American small-town life. Trailers, distributed by 7th Art Releasing, featured snippets of raw footage capturing everyday moments in Sidney, Ohio, such as community events and personal interactions, to evoke the town's unvarnished rhythm without scripted narration. Posters incorporated evocative imagery of Sidney's landscapes and residents, emphasizing the film's intimate, observational approach and generating buzz through festival circuits. Directors Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross played a central role in promotion, leveraging their personal ties to Sidney as native sons to authenticate the film's perspective. They made personal appearances at post-screening Q&As during festival runs, drawing on connections from their prior short films—screened at museums and events worldwide—to secure slots at key venues like South by Southwest, where 45365 premiered in 2009 and won the Grand Jury Award for Best Documentary Feature. This hands-on involvement helped build grassroots enthusiasm among indie film communities. Partnerships extended the film's reach through collaborations with independent cinemas and educational institutions. Distributor 7th Art Releasing facilitated screenings at art-house theaters, while special educational pricing for DVD/Blu-ray ($500) targeted screenings in American studies programs, tying the documentary to curricula exploring Midwestern identity and community dynamics. Local Sidney entities, including the police department and high school, were acknowledged in promotional materials, reinforcing the film's community-rooted authenticity. The film's online presence began modestly with early teasers hosted on Vimeo, capitalizing on the platform's indie filmmaker community to share glimpses of Sidney's daily life ahead of wider release. Following the 2009 premiere, social media efforts ramped up via the Ross brothers' accounts and distributor channels, focusing on connecting with Midwestern audiences through posts about the town's cultural nuances and behind-the-scenes insights, which helped sustain interest leading into PBS's Independent Lens broadcast in 2010.

Reception

Critical response

The documentary 45365 received widespread critical acclaim for its immersive and poetic depiction of everyday life in small-town America, earning an aggregated score of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 19 reviews. Critics frequently praised the film's avoidance of narrative clichés, opting instead for a non-intrusive, observational style that captures the rhythms of ordinary existence without imposed drama or commentary. Roger Ebert awarded it four out of four stars, describing it as "an achingly beautiful film" that evokes the essence of Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio through its tender portrayal of community life. Variety's Joe Leydon lauded the work as "a seductive, fascinating tapestry of small-town life," highlighting its lyrical interweaving of random glimpses into the residents of Sidney, Ohio, which conveys profound truths amid the prosaic. Similarly, Village Voice critic Nick Pinkerton commended its "eye for the infinite diversity within a superficially monotonous pattern," noting how the film's symphonic structure reveals the depth in routine activities like church services and barber shop conversations. Time Out New York's Andrew Schenker emphasized the film's focus on the "ongoing ritual of small-town American life," where outcomes matter less than the communal fabric itself. Despite the predominant praise, some reviewers critiqued 45365 for its meandering pace and superficial engagement with underlying social issues, such as economic hardship in the Rust Belt. Sarah Manvel of Critic's Notebook argued that the film "skates over the surface of the lives it witnessed without rhyme or reason," rendering it frustrating for audiences seeking deeper analysis of poverty and decline. A user review echoed this sentiment, faulting the documentary for lacking "the depth and critical edge necessary for solid documentary filmmaking" despite its visual charm. These criticisms, though in the minority, underscored a perceived trade-off between the film's aesthetic immersion and substantive exploration of its subjects' challenges.

Audience and cultural impact

45365 garnered significant recognition within the independent film community, winning the Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary Feature at the 2009 South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Festival. It also received the Truer than Fiction Award at the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards and earned nominations for Outstanding Achievement in Editing, Cinematography, and Non-Fiction Debut at the 2010 Cinema Eye Honors Awards. These accolades highlighted the film's innovative observational style and its intimate portrayal of small-town life. The documentary has been adopted for educational purposes, appearing in university film series and courses focused on American culture and documentary filmmaking. For instance, it was featured in the General Education Film Series at Longwood University as part of discussions on documentary forms, and screened at the University of Southern California's Cinematic Arts showcase in 2013 to explore themes of community and place. Additionally, it has been screened in community programs in Ohio, including events tied to its PBS broadcast on Independent Lens, fostering local dialogues about regional identity. In terms of cultural legacy, 45365 influenced the Ross brothers' subsequent works, serving as the foundation for their immersive, verité approach seen in films like Tchoupitoulas (2012), which similarly captures unscripted urban exploration. Released amid the 2008 financial crisis, the film contributed to broader media conversations about rural America, offering a poignant, non-judgmental lens on economic stagnation and community resilience in the Midwest. As of 2024, it continued to be referenced in discussions of observational documentary genres and became available on streaming platforms, introducing it to new audiences. Audience reception emphasized its appeal at festivals, with strong attendance at its SXSW premiere and later revivals, such as at the 2020 True/False Film Fest. It developed a dedicated niche following among indie film enthusiasts, bolstered by its availability on streaming platforms in the 2010s, which introduced it to new generations interested in authentic depictions of everyday American life.

References

  1. https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/45365/
  2. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/45365-2010
  3. https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/features/always-pleasure-adventures-bill-turner-ross
  4. https://reverseshot.org/reviews/entry/1241/45365
  5. https://www.voxmagazine.com/arts/45365-true-false-2020/article_a02b0d76-5f33-11ea-ace0-937f6e7a9225.html
  6. https://www.dispatch.com/story/entertainment/2009/08/13/brothers-deliver-loving-look-at/23603088007/
  7. https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/movies/17four.html
  8. https://variety.com/2009/film/reviews/45365-1200507363/
  9. https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/forty-five-thousand-three-hundred-and-sixty-five/
  10. https://directorsnotes.com/2017/05/01/bill-and-turner-ross-45365/
  11. https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/blog/45365s-ross-bros-talk-about-capturing-the-fleeting/
  12. https://itvs.org/films/45365/
  13. https://filmfestivaltoday.com/fft-festival-coverage/2009-newport-international-film-festival-june-3-7-2009/
  14. https://www.savannahnow.com/story/news/2009/10/28/savannah-film-festival-gets-bigger/13718710007/
  15. https://www.boxofficemojo.com/title/tt1337139/
  16. https://mubi.com/en/us/films/-45365
  17. https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/45365
  18. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R_js-l07xE
  19. https://www.cinematerial.com/movies/45365-i1337139/p/n2x772x0
  20. https://www.7thart.com/product/45365/
  21. https://kaist455.com/2020/12/28/45365-2009/
  22. https://x.com/rossbros
  23. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/45365
  24. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1337139/reviews/
  25. https://sxsw.com/festivals/film/awards-archive/
  26. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1337139/awards/
  27. https://variety.com/2010/film/awards/truer-than-fiction-at-spirit-awards-1118016058/
  28. https://blogs.longwood.edu/gefs/tag/documentary/
  29. https://cinema.usc.edu/inmotion/PDF/InMotion_fall_13.pdf
  30. https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/culture/review-the-ross-brothers-observational-immersive-documentary-western-259338/
  31. https://metrograph.com/ramell-ross/
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