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This caught my eye on the Radio Times web site. The subject matter might be grim, but the thing I found astonishing is that he made this film for an initial budget of $218 and edited it on his home computer. The BBC aren't a charity, so if they're showing it on the highbrow channel, it must have some genuine merit even if it's just to see what's possible with the likes of Movie Maker. To me, it screams, "The Effect Is More Important Than The Cause". Ahem. Anyway, here's the details:

Tonight, 10:00pm - 11:30pm, BBC4: "Tarnation" by Jonathan Caouette.

"If there's one thing that's not in doubt about Jonathan Caouette's eccentric and ultimately moving documentary, it's that it is certainly one of the cheapest ever made. Assembled from material as diverse as Super-8 home movies, newspaper clippings and even answerphone messages Caouette's been collecting since he was a boy, it was edited on his home computer for an original budget of $218. What emerges from the patchwork quilt of material is a picture of a troubled adolescent struggling to survive a childhood blighted not only by a mother whose mental stability was destroyed by electroshock treatment, but also his own abuse in various foster homes. This is a film that's almost impossible to review in the normal sense, since any critique is necessarily a critique of Caouette's interpretation of his own life (he was 31 when he completed the movie) and is therefore redundant. But it's certainly stunningly original, and as affecting and honest an account of a deeply traumatic childhood as you're ever likely to find on screen. "