Strange Parallel is a documentary

Documentary film

Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...

/short film revolving around the American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 singer/songwriter Elliott Smith

Elliott Smith

Steven Paul "Elliott" Smith was an American singer-songwriter and musician. Smith was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and resided for a significant portion of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he first gained popularity...

. The film features interviews with Elliott himself as well as fans, friends and other acquaintances of his (including Gus Van Sant

Gus Van Sant

Gus Green Van Sant, Jr. is an American director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician, and author. He is a two time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director for his 1997 film Good Will Hunting and his 2008 film Milk, both of which were also nominated for Best Picture, and won the...

, Larry Crane

Larry Crane

Larry Crane is an American editor, recording engineer and archivist based in Portland, Oregon. Crane is the editor and founder of Tape Op Magazine, the owner of Portland's Jackpot! Recording Studio, a freelance engineer, and the archivist for musician Elliott Smith.-Career:Tape Op was started in...

, and the members of Quasi

Quasi

Quasi is an American indie rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1993 by ex-husband and wife Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss . Since 2007 the group has been a trio, following the addition of bassist Joanna Bolme.-History:In 1990 , Coomes, Weiss, and Brad Pedinov formed the band Motorgoat...

). The film also includes snippets of Elliott Smith performing as well as footage of him recording an unreleased song, "Brand New Game". The film sometimes moves out of reality, with acted-out, metaphorical sequences that involve Elliott considering purchasing a mechanical hand (a "robot hand") to improve his music.

The film was made in 1998 and was directed by Steve Hanft

Steve Hanft

Steven P. Hanft , more commonly known as Steve Hanft, is an American independent film director.-Early life:Hanft was born in Ventura, California. He started making films at the age of 11 growing up in California. His first works consisted of surf films and nature films followed later by...

. The film takes place mostly in New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 and Portland, Oregon

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

. The title is a direct quote from an interview of one of Elliott's acquaintances (a bartender

Bartender

A bartender is a person who serves beverages behind a counter in a bar, pub, tavern, or similar establishment. A bartender, in short, "tends the bar". The term barkeeper may carry a connotation of being the bar's owner...

) who said he felt a "strange parallel" between himself and Elliott when he met him.

The film was used for promotion only and is not available for purchase. http://www.sweetadeline.net/faq.html

Director Steve Hanft says this about the film:

"In 1998 I was hired to make a film for the reclusive rocker Elliott Smith. Very excited, I flew to Portland, Oregon, where he was staying and met with him to figure it out before we filmed. At the meeting he explained, in a very quiet voice, with a slight smile, that he didn't want it to be a straight-up documentary. So I suggested he write down some of his dreams. The next day, we met again, and he began talking a lot, and louder, telling me all about how he "had a fucked up dream last night". It was very funny when he explained it, everyone in and around the music business he was in was telling him to get a mechanical hand to replace the hand that he'd trained for so long to play guitar. There was also a military recruiter who came into the bar where he was writing a song that would yell at him for no reason, and Satan was there, that kills me. A lot of people who know him from his music don't understand that he was really funny. So we wrote the dream into the shot list and intercut it into the more traditional music footage. It was hard to get the documentary footage out of him, he hated being interviewed. He was much more into the dream sequence and we had a lot fun shooting it. It was an amazing experience and just knowing a guy like that, so talented and brutally honest, has changed my life. Bless him."

Credits

• Written by Steve Hanft, Jason Mason & Elliott Smith
• Shot and Directed by Steve Hanft
• Produced by Raub Shapiro
• Sound Recording by Jason Mason
• Additional Photography by Patrick Simpson
• Art Direction by Tom Marsan
• Edited by Steve Hanft & Paul Menne
• Camera Assistants: Rebekah Sitty & 'Cool' Keith Sirchio

Portland Crew

• Skateboard Cam: Dave England
• Props Production: Beth Stewart
• 2nd Camera Operator: Loch Phillips
• Production Assistants: Rich Velasquez & Stuart Kinger

Interviewees

• Gus Van Sant
  Gus Van Sant
  Gus Green Van Sant, Jr. is an American director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician, and author. He is a two time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director for his 1997 film Good Will Hunting and his 2008 film Milk, both of which were also nominated for Best Picture, and won the...
  
   (director of Good Will Hunting
  Good Will Hunting
  Good Will Hunting is a 1997 drama film directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Matt Damon, Robin Williams, Ben Affleck, Minnie Driver, and Stellan Skarsgård...
  
  )
• Chuck (bartender)
• Sam Coomes
  Sam Coomes
  Samuel J. Coomes is an American musician, and currently one-third of the Portland-area indie band Quasi, along with drummer and ex-wife Janet Weiss and bassist Joanna Bolme...
  
   & Janet Weiss
  Janet Weiss
  Janet Lee Weiss was the drummer of now defunct Sleater-Kinney and is currently a member of Quasi and Wild Flag. She was the drummer for Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, leaving after the album Mirror Traffic.-Early life:...
  
   (of Quasi
  Quasi
  Quasi is an American indie rock band formed in Portland, Oregon in 1993 by ex-husband and wife Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss . Since 2007 the group has been a trio, following the addition of bassist Joanna Bolme.-History:In 1990 , Coomes, Weiss, and Brad Pedinov formed the band Motorgoat...
  
  )
• Larry Crane
  Larry Crane
  Larry Crane is an American editor, recording engineer and archivist based in Portland, Oregon. Crane is the editor and founder of Tape Op Magazine, the owner of Portland's Jackpot! Recording Studio, a freelance engineer, and the archivist for musician Elliott Smith.-Career:Tape Op was started in...
  
  
• Marne Lucas
• Amber Strom
• Harry Kulpoenen

Additional Appearances

• Dave England: Devil
• Sasha Fuentes: Robot Hand Salesman
• Ross Harris
  Ross Harris
  Richard R. Harris , better known by his nickname, Rossie Harris is an American actor, artist, and musician.-Acting career:...
  
  : Robot Hand Salesman
• James Lee Ellis: Doctor
• Akhigbonde Francis: Doctor
• Amy Metsman: Member of the Board
• William Edwards: Chairman of the Board
• Sean Croghan: Sgt. Slaughter
• Joanna Bolme
  Joanna Bolme
  Joanna Bolme is a multi-instrumentalist and recording engineer who works with several indie rock bands and artists, mainly in the Pacific Northwest...
  
  : Recording Engineer
• Robin Bauer: Devil Sympathizer
• Laura Nerlove: Devil Sympathizer
• Sonia Manalli: Medical Technician
• Vanessa Reyes: Medical Technician
• Brent Sersen: Member of the Board
• Tracy Van Zandt: Devil Sympathizer

Music

(All songs written and performed by Elliott Smith unless otherwised noted.)

• "Independence Day"
• "Waltz #2 (XO)" (live)
• "Brand New Game" (early version, unreleased)
• "Miss Misery"
• "Waltz #2 (XO)"
• "Waltz #1"
• "Bottle Up and Explode!" (live)
• "Robot Hand Jive" and "In Between Time" (narration music) - written and performed by Dada Munchamonkey (aka Ed Ruscha, Jr.)
• "Isn't it a Pity?" (live) - written by George Harrison
  George Harrison
  George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...
  
  , performed by Elliott Smith
• "Ballad of Big Nothing" (live)
• "Happiness" (live)
• "Oh Well, Okay" (theremin) - performed by Sam Coomes, arranged by Elliott Smith
• "Waltz #2 (XO)" (dub version) - written by Elliott Smith, performed by Future Pigeon
  Future Pigeon
  Future Pigeon is an American punk/dub band from Los Angeles, California, contemporary to the late 1990s and early 2000s.-History:Future Pigeon are an award-winning underground band from LA; they are often associated in performances with other more famous members of that scene such as the late...
  
  
• "Prelude Op3 #2 in C Sharp Minor" (live) - written by Sergei Rachmaninoff
  Sergei Rachmaninoff
  Sergei Vasilievich Rachmaninoff was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor. Rachmaninoff is widely considered one of the finest pianists of his day and, as a composer, one of the last great representatives of Romanticism in Russian classical music...
  
  , performed by Elliott Smith
• "Coming Up Roses"
• "Oh Well, Okay" (live)
• "Baby Britain"

Post-Production

• Colorist: Paul Bronkor
• Henry Artists: Eric Novisieciak (robot fire), Steve Koko & Patti Gannon

Executive Producers

• Luke Wood, Frances Pennington & Margaret Mittleman
• Laurie Maloga & Tim Clowson for Propaganda Films