Product Details

• Actors: Dreadie Jeff, Mama Phyllis, Dean Maher
• Directors: Jeremy Stulberg;Randy Stulberg
• Format: Color, DVD, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Studio: Indiepix
• DVD Release Date: May 5, 2008
• Run Time: 64 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00189CZMI
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #92,382 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Review

An insightful study of an alternative American lifestyle; The Stulbergs, whose film's stunning look is a combination of good cinematography and a majestic New Mexican landscape, achieved marvelous access to what has to be a very closed and insular community, given where and how the inhabitants choose to live. The various characters come to vivid life. --John Anderson, Variety

Product Description

Twenty-Five miles from town, a million miles from mainstream society, a loose-knit community of eco-pioneers, teenage runaways, war veterans and drop-outs, live on the fringe and off the grid, struggling to survive with little food, less water and no electricity, as they cling to their unique vision of the American dream...

See all Editorial Reviews

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Made Documentary About A Community On The Edge Of Civilization, May 25, 2008

By	Chris Luallen (Nashville, Tennessee) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The Mesa is a desolate area of 15 square miles in New Mexico where around 400 people are joined together in a loosely knit community that tries to live "off the grid" of modern conviences, paid work and legal restrictions.

As someone who came of age in the counter-culture of the late 1980's, some of the Mesa residents reminded me of the sort of middle age hippies I met at Rainbow Gatherings. However, the Mesa also includes a large number of military vets and others drawn to guns and aggresssive behavior. What brings these folks together is a committment to "roughing it" in order to live outsides the rules and requirements of mainstream society.

Whether you view these people as well intentioned freedom seekers or dangerous crackpots really depends on your perspective. Personally, I found Mesa to include a little bit of both. For example, I really liked Stan, an older man who kept pigs and goats, apparently trying to live off the land the way his family had been doing for generations. He also seemed to be a very kind hearted fellow, willing to take in and mentor runaway teens who had nowhere else to go. There was also Mama Philips, a former psychiatric nurse dedicated to providing stability and emotional nurturing to her neighbors. On the other hand, Mesa did seem to have a large number of very troubled individuals. For instance, one of ex-military guys spoke of "eye for a eye" revenge killings as the best solution to community conflicts.

The subject matter is indeed interesting. But I give this doc 5 stars because of the high quality of film making. The cinematography was excellent, the scenes well edited and the whole package put together in a way that manintained my interest throughout. By the end, I really did care about these people and the community they live in.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "You Can't Do That In Brooklyn", July 29, 2009

By	Susan Y. Schoonover (Boulder, CO) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

OFF THE GRID: LIFE ON THE MESA is an engaging documentary. It tells the story of a group of individuals who choose to live away from most of society in the Northern New Mexico desert. These people live in makeshift homes or vehicles with no electricity, little food and so little water that as one "mama" puts it they often eat off dirty dishes because they would rather have the water for drinking than washing. Aging hippies, teenage runaways, and ex military men many with emotional challenges seem to make up a large portion of the population. There are children being raised there as well though one single father's four kids are returned to their mother in Connecticut during the course of the film. I appreciate that the filmmakers treat their subjects with dignity and let them tell the story with their own often articulate voices. The main conflict in the movie occurs when a group of vegan teenage runaways begin stealing from other residents they feel are hoarding food. We are told that this is resolved by a delegation of "mamas" visiting the teens but I would like to know more about how exactly this was resolved though the filmmakers were hampered by the teenagers' refusal to be filmed. Still, this is a well made film with a fascinating subject