Milltown, Montana

Time inscribes itself into Rainer Komers' meticulously composed images and impressive sound collages of MILLTOWN, MONTANA. Each picture tells a story of a place that once belonged to the largest mining area in the United States that was contaminated by toxic substances and heavy metals. But the film does not only show the devastated landscape. Without dialogue, it sensitively portraits the people living and working there: cowboys branding their calves, Blackfeet Indians laying down the foundation stone for a new educational center, trappers and golfers, workers in a silicium plant, old miners, and young scholars competing in a mining contest.MILLTOWN, MONTANA is visibly scarred by man and trapped in a postindustrial phase of standstill. By alluding to its former wealth but showing the area's actual lack ofprospects, the film dramatically undermines the image of the American Dream.