He shot the 'sheriff'
Local filmmaker's documentary follows footsteps of legendary producer Frederick Wiseman

Courtesy Daniel Kraus Brunswick County, N.C., Sheriff Ronald E. Hewett is ready for action in Daniel Kraus’ documentary, ‘Sheriff,’ which is screening at the Gallery Theatre this month.

By By Jamie Murnane
A&E Editor

The Chicago Documentary Film Festival may be over, but screenings of a very atypical documentary by Chicago-based filmmaker Daniel Kraus are still taking place at the Gallery Theatre, 1112 N. Milwaukee Ave. Kraus’ documentary, Sheriff, which he shot over a three-year period in Brunswick County, N.C., is a refreshing break from what many believe to be the “typical” Bowling for Columbine-style documentary.

Sheriff is the real life tale of Ronald E. Hewett,the sheriff of Brunswick County. At the time of inspiration, Kraus was living in Wilmington, N.C., and was working as a television news photographer.

“My job was going out and shooting terrible murders and disasters and car wrecks—all sorts of terrible things. That was sort of my stock in trade for a while, which I hated,” Kraus said. “And I would see sheriff Hewett maybe once a week because there’d be something terribly tragic going on in Brunswick County.”

It was during that time that Kraus decided to focus his film on Hewett. This decision helps Sheriff to leap off the documentary bandwagon by focusing on one person who, as Kraus said, “is not really known”—rather than a large issue such as gun control.

“There was sort of a moment when it all came together for me. There was a double murder in Brunswick County. It was raining and it was a terribly gloomy day—rain was pouring down. There were these two trailers in the middle of nowhere, and both the people in both houses were dead and I was waiting to get a sound bite from Hewett,” Kraus said. “He came walking out of one of the trailer houses and he’s got his sheriff hat on and this big rifle in one hand and then in the other he’s cradling a baby who was the only survivor. Then he charged right up to the camera and was like ‘let’s go.’”

What makes this documentary stand out is that it’s done in the style of renowned cinema verite filmmaker Frederick Wiseman—there are no interviews, narration, fluffy music or added sound effects, all of which Kraus believes to be a crutch.

“I was already a big fan of Frederick Wiseman’s documentary films, and when I started editing [Sheriff], they had this big retrospective of his films here in Chicago at the Gene Siskel Center and I got to see 10 of his films over the course of a month and a half and I was like ‘that’s how I’m going to make my movie!’ which was a challenge because once you set yourself up with those stark rules—no interviews, no music, no extraneous sound effects—it’s difficult because a lot of things you want to use, you can’t use anymore,” he said. “There were a lot of scenes I had to ditch because they had somebody talking to the camera or something.”

During the course of the filmmaking, Kraus, and sometimes his crew of two or three, followed Hewett around on his pursuit of justice.Though Brunswick County may have a very small town, Southern feel, it is not immune to such crimes such as homicide, bank robbery and in one case the theft of ceramic rabbits. The end of the film captures perhaps the most interestingly coincidental situation.

The sheriff was on the tail of an escaped prisoner during filming, and Kraus and his crew went to a convient store for a snack. Fortunately, cameras were still rolling in the parking lot and the crew caught the prisoner on tape as he emerged from the woods.

“We just happened to be in the neighborhood when this stuff happened. We were right there,” Kraus said. “Hewett wasn’t even there—we had to wait for him to show up.”

Though Sheriff was shot in a style that Kraus said he believes hasn’t really been used since the ’60s or ’70s, it has been receiving rave reviews. This year, it’s been screening at several festivals, including Cannes and Cinequest.

Sheriff appears at the Gallery Theatre, 1112 N. Milwaukee Ave., from April 16 through April 20. For show times or more information, visit www.sheriffmovie.com.