Main Street USA

Main Street USA charts the maiden voyage of DCTV’s Cybercar, a 21st century mobile television studio with a giant Times Square-style video screen mounted on the side allowing the public to view video segments and participate in live broadcasts from any location.

On the second anniversary of the devastating attacks of September 11th, 2001, the Cybercar takes a tour of twelve Main Streets across America.  The one thing that holds true throughout the tour is that no two Main Streets are alike.  The Main Street of Jonesborough, Tennessee is quaint and picturesque, while the windows are broken and boarded in East Saint Louis.

At each stop, local citizens gather around the Cybercar to watch DCTV footage from Ground Zero, Afghanistan, and post-war Iraq.  The result is a lively, interactive discussion centered on the important political issues of our day.  In the small town of Anderson, Indiana nearly the entire viewing audience adamantly believes that it was Iraqi militants who flew the airplanes into the World Trade Center.  Only a few hours away in the sleepy town of Casey, Illinois (home of the International Popcorn Festival), the horrors of 9/11 resonate obecause many town residents now have family stationed in war-torn Iraq.  Residents of tiny King, North Carolina are overwhelmingly against the war in Iraq, while folks in Charlottsville, Virginia are split down the middle. 

The open-assembly style of the conversations allows participants to articulate who we are as a nation and where we want to go. Blending authentic American voices with portraits of daily life in our hometowns, Main Street USA is a living mosaic of our diverse country and its varied points of view.

Fasten your seat belts and ride with the Cybercar as it chugs across America to Paterson, NJ; Charlottesville, VA; King, NC; Jonesborough, TN; Palestine, AR; Yazoo City, MS; East Saint Louis, IL; Casey, IL; Anderson, IN; and Woodstock, NY.

Credits:

Director: Jon Alpert
Executive Producers:Jon Alpert, Kate Hillis, Laurie Meadoff, Matthew O'Neill
Editors:John Custodio, Brent Renaud, Craig Renaud

Technical Details:

2003, trt: 69 min, English, Color