him to continue working on the film. He alerted Stephen Winter, then the artistic director of MIX NYC, the New York Lesbian & Gay Experimental Film Festival. Stephen became the producer of Tarnation. A tape found its way to Mitchell's friend, Gus Van Sant, who was also deeply moved by the film. Both he and Mitchell signed on as executive producers. Film critic Roger Ebert, an early supporter, said $400,000 more was eventually spent by the distributor on sound, print, score and music/clip clearances to bring the film to theaters. The film went on to win the Best Documentary Award from the National Society of Film Critics, also was nominated for the Independent Spirits, the Gotham Awards, as well as the L.A. and London International Film Festivals. The film was initially made for a total budget of $218.32, using free iMovie software on a Mac. Reception and legacy The November 2003 world premiere of the movie at MIX was much more abstract in nature, running about two hours. With input from Mitchell, Winter, and co-editor Brian A. Kates, Caouette shot new footage and edited the film down to about 90 minutes for its screening at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival in the Frontier Section. There it was invited to appear in the 2004 Cannes Film Festival Directors' Fortnight. The filmmakers did not have the $30,000 to make a film print for the festival but at the last minute respected art house distributor Wellspring picked it up and brought it to Cannes where it garnered great critical acclaim and worldwide distribution. Caouette's next completed film in 2007 was All Tomorrow's Parties. Walk Away Renee, Jonathan's companion film to Tarnation, examines a certain later period involving the filmmaker and his mother. It premiered at Cannes in 2011 and was released internationally in May 2012. In June 2020, it was announced that indie distributor Hope Runs High had picked up Tarnation and was giving the film its streaming premiere on the Criterion Collection's Criterion Channel. References External links Tarnation on MUBI BBC website article about the screening at the Cannes Festival Jonathan Caouette's Blog (about himself and Tarnation) 2003 films 2003 documentary films American documentary films Documentary films about LGBT topics American teen LGBT-related films Collage film Documentary films about mental disorders Autobiographical documentary films Films directed by Jonathan Caouette Films shot in Houston Films shot in New York City Films shot in