I’m a big fan of documentaries, but I still haven’t seen or gotten a copy of “Hands on a Hard Body” (1997), a doc that I’ve been told is a great one from a number of friends.

A quick search for it on the Internet explained why. A used copy of the out-of-print film costs $85. A new copy tops out at $257. Our programming director here at The Documentary Channel has a copy of it on VHS. I’ve haven’t bugged him for it yet, but I will, because it’s supposed to be worth it.

It’s a documentary of a win-a-car contest shot in 1995 at Patterson Nissan in Longview, Texas. The last person standing with their hand on a shiny new truck gets to keep it. The contest started in 1992 and the longer it was around, and more well known it became, the longer the winning time got. By 2002, a woman named Cleo Campeau stood for 99 hours (they did get 15 minute breaks to go to the bathroom) to take home the truck.

But in 2005 the contest came to an abrupt halt three days into it after one of the contestants excused himself only to break into a K-Mart across the street and steal and load a shotgun. Confronted by police as he left the store, Ricky Vega shot himself to death, according to the Longview News-Journal.

Whether or not famed filmmaker Robert Altman decided to turn “Hands on a Hard Body” into a film before or after the suicide is unclear. But it was the last project Altman had lined up before he died late last year.

The car contest has been permanently canceled because of Vega’s suicide, as a call to the Patterson Nissan in Longview confirmed. “No sir, we have that no more,” said a woman who answered the phone.

A guy named S.R. Bindler directed “Hands on a Hard Body.” The actor Matthew McConaughey, a native of Longview, Texas, helped produced it. Bindler is getting ready to release the feature film “Surfer Dude,” starring McConaughey, next year.

If you are a subscriber to our Doc newsletter, you may already have heard the good news, but if not, we’re proud to announce that Documentary Channel original production “emPowered” will be screening as part of the Colorado Environmental Film Festival. If you happen to live in Colorado and would like to catch the film, it will be screening on Thursday, November 1 beginning at 6:00 pm. Like many of the other films that are a part of the weekly EarthView block Sunday nights here on DOC, “emPowered” seeks to shed a little light on simple, practical at home solutions to cutting energy costs in your home. On the subject of shedding a bit of light, apparently emPowered inspired several members of the Colorado Alliance for Environmental Education to organize a “Change a Light” contest for local schools, challenging students to replace incandescent bulbs with CFLs at home and in school. The EPA, Energy Star program, and the Colorado Governor’s Office of Energy got involved as partners, providing curriculum for teachers, awards to schools that replace (or pledge to replace) the most bulbs per capita, and also CFLs for schools where students’ families can’t afford to purchase bulbs. The awards will be presented after emPowered screens at the festival. We at DOC wish the best of luck to all the green-minded contestants and hope you’ll check out EarthView every Sunday night.

We recently got some very sad news about one of our favorite Nashville filmmakers, Ms. Molly Secours. Molly’s name might be familiar to you if you’ve caught her films “Welcome to My Hood” or “The Faces of Tenncare” here on the channel. Molly was recently diagnosed with uterine cancer and a number of the folks in the Nashville film community have rallied to put together a benefit for her. You’ll find the details about the event and a few other ways you can help out should you not be a Nashville resident below:

The irreplaceable Molly Secours, who has fought for many good causes and helped many people over the years, could now use our support at a most challenging time.
Three months ago, Molly - well known writer, filmmaker, speaker and social activist - was diagnosed with uterine cancer.
Her situation was made doubly difficult by the fact that she had only limited health insurance.
Now, a group of her friends and supporters announce there will be a benefit to raise money for her continued treatment and recovery.
The benefit is called The Molly Show and will be at the Belcourt Theater on October 18 at 7:30pm. Tickets are $20, available at http://www.belcourt.org/ < http://www.belcourt.org/> and at the box office.
“We’ve put together an evening of comedy, music, spoken word and art,” said Dr. Judy Freudenthal, Director of Oasis Center. “Molly has many friends in the entertainment and creative community here. Everyone wants to contribute something.”
The show will feature world-renowned Irish singer Maura O’Connell, comedy country duo Doyle and Debbie, Claude McKnight of Take 6, performance poet Minton Sparks, spoken word artist Diallo, soulful singer Steve Conn plus special surprise guests.
Also, visual artist James Threalkill will paint an original painting during the show which will be auctioned off at the end of the evening.

Those who can’t attend The Molly Show who still want to contribute can do so through:
Molly Secours
P.O. Box 68534
Nashville, TN 37206
Or anonymously:
Molly Secours Benefit Fund
AmSouth Music-1600 Division #100
Nashville, TN. 37203
For additional information, contact:
Dr. Judy Freudenthal
Oasis Center Prevention Director
615 327-4455
mailto: jfreudenthal@oasiscenter.org
If for some reason you can’t make it, we’ve made it easy to still donate. As suggested by some folks, we’ve opened a PayPal account so with just a few clicks you can make a contribution.
Either click on http://tickets.belcourt.org/default.asp to purchase your ticket or click on the donate button at Molly’s website http://www.mollysecours.com/

This time Errol Morris - director of classic documentaries like “The Thin Blue Line” and “The Fog of War” - had a camera pointed at him.

Kevin Macdonald’s “A Brief History of Errol Morris” was released in 2000, but I just found out about the 45-minute doc recently and watched it on YouTube. It’s cool to listen to Morris’ talk about his own work and learn how he went from University of California, Berkeley dropout to detective and worked as a Werner Herzog production assistant before becoming an innovative filmmaker.

Macdonald probably got to sit down with Morris because by then he had directed the Academy Award-winning “One Day in September” (1999), a documentary about Palestinian terrorists taking Israeli athletes hostage at the 1972 Olympics in Munich. More recently Macdonald directed the narrative feature film “The Last King of Scotland” (2006).

The title Macdonald chose for his Morris doc is a reference to “A Brief History of Time” (1991), a film Morris made about the wheelchair-bound physicist Stephen Hawking.

My favorite part of “A Brief History of Errol Morris” is the interview with Philip Glass. The composer tells how Morris showed up at his hotel door to request more music for “The Thin Blue Line.” This happened after Glass had moved on to another project having just spent months on end poring over the soundtrack in order to please the obsessive Morris.

Check out Macdonald’s doc if you get a chance. You’ll learn a lot about filmmaking and be introduced to Morris’ catalog of work, which will be watched for decades to come.

Hey Gang,

Chris here. Typing at you from high atop DOC Central (which is to say the second floor of our building). I caught wind of a tasty tidbit that I just had to share with my fellow music doc fans out there.  I just heard that Bob Dylan and Rolling Stones documentarian Martin Scorsese (and director of lil’ ole movies like Raging Bull and Goodfellas) will direct an authorized documentary about George Harrison! According to Daily Variety, “George Harrison’s music and his search for spiritual meaning is a story that still resonates today and I’m looking forward to delving deeper,” Scorsese said of the project. Harrison’s widow, Olivia, who will serve as a producer on the film, which will go into production this year. “It would have given George great joy to know that Martin Scorsese has agreed to tell his story,” she said. Surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr have also agreed to participate. No release date has been set for the film, which isn’t expected to hit theaters for several years. I’m sure that any of my fellow Beatle-maniacs out there will agree it’s most likely gonna be worth the wait. A lovely weekend to you and yours.