Bill and Turner Ross were born in Sidney, Ohio. With collaborative, scrappy filmmaking at its finest, the Ross Brothers’ films are deeply rooted in the specifics of place while playing fast and loose with the rest. Their films may appear to be straightforward observational documentaries, but each production is in fact a series of highly orchestrated, intricately choreographed collaborative performances between the subjects, a team of filmmakers, and the space-time continuum. Full of twists and surprises, there’s a rebellious streak that runs through their films like a riddle best left unsolved as the Ross Brothers invite viewers on a cinematic joyride truer than fiction.
This year we are proud to exhibit their debut film, 45365 (2009), a paean to the Midwest and small town Americana; Tchoupitoulas (2012), a story of three brothers’ luck and losses one night in New Orleans; and their brand new feature, Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets (2020), one last hurrah for barflys, saints, and sinners in the city of mystery and second chances.
In Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets, we pick up, in many ways, where the revelry of Tchoupitoulas left off. The soundtrack of Buck Owens’ epic ballad of failure and blind ambition, “Big in Vegas” rings in our ears like an alarm clock while patrons sober up and stumble out into the light. A last round for late night romance and hard won advice, Bloody Nose, Empty Pockets is a zonked out midnight marvel that rounds out the Ross Brothers’ career in neon lights.