America Doesn't Exist (in English)

Der Film auf deutsch von YouTube: https://youtu.be/HIogyhU5MSE

AMERICA DOESN’T EXIST ©1976
Based on short story Amerika gibt es nicht by Peter Bichsel

Screenplay by
Bill Hutchinson

2016 is the 40th anniversary of the initial release of Bill Hutchinson’s 1976 film adaptation of Peter Bichsel’s German short story America Doesn’t Exist (Amerika gibt es nicht).

Sandy (Alexander) Mackendrick, Dean of CalArts (California Institute of the Arts) film school, always told his students to keep their film pitches short, preferably limiting the pitch to no more than three minutes. As students would start to present their pitch, Sandy would take an hourglass egg-timer and turned it upside down to ensure everyone saw the remaining time before the pitch should end.

Not only did the pitch for America Doesn’t Exist end before the final grain of sand fell to the bottom chamber of the egg-timer, the final film, following the credits, is exactly three minutes.

The film America Doesn’t Exist is available on YouTube and listed in IMDb (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5306274/combined).

Credits:
Special thanks to:
Eva-Maria Fallone
Luchterhand Verlag
Walt Disney Productions

Cast
Colombin.....Chris Anderson
King........Robert Wahlborg
Amerigo........Nathan Garcia
Peasant..............Cherie Godt

Narrated by
Matt West

Director of Photography
Bruce E. Nolte

Editor
Bill Hutchinson

Sound
Darrel Johansen

Mix
Don Worthen

Music Composed by
Mark Hoder

Produced and Directed by
Bill Hutchinson

Produced at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts)

Note from Bill Hutchinson, posted 31-OCT-2018:
When I first read the story in 1972, I couldn't stop laughing. I obtained the rights to turn the story into a student film. I couldn't afford to film the ending I wanted, which was to have the king walk down a contemporary American street saying his line as the camera pulls back to reveal he is on a studio backlot. Thus driving home America doesn't exist.

Read Amerika gibt es nicht in German: http://www.quetzal-leipzig.de/printausgaben/ausgabe-01-1492-bis-1992-eine-bestandsaufnahme/amerika-gibt-es-nicht-19093.html

Read America Doesn't Exist in English: https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.quetzal-leipzig.de%2Fprintausgaben%2Fausgabe-01-1492-bis-1992-eine-bestandsaufnahme%2Famerika-gibt-es-nicht-19093.html&edit-text=&act=url