Within a few hours of meeting Stan Stanless Steel Pleskun, filmmaker Zachary Levy knew he wanted to make a documentary about the profes-sional strongmans life. It wasnt just that Levy had seen Pleskun perform a stunt that day at a New Jersey airport, where he kept two Cessna planes one strapped to each of his arms from lifting off through sheer physical strength. After visiting Pleskun at his home later that day, Levy knew he had found something big. I knew literally that day, there was a real film here, Levy says. I remember leaving scared, because I knew the level of commitment it was going to take.
To make Strongman, Levy followed Pleskun around for three years, documenting the strongmans stunts lifting three people with a single finger, bending pennies with his hands, lifting a 10,000-pound truck with his legs as well as capturing deeply personal moments in Pleskuns life fighting with his family, kissing his girlfriend in a pizza parlor, trying and failing to obtain a truck for a stunt. Its shot with a gritty, lo-fi realism without music or narration.
You can make these kinds of films that revolve around a single event, like a competition, Levy says. But I didnt want to graft it to any sort of structure. 7 p.m. Saturday, 5 p.m. Sunday. 14 Pews, 800 Aurora Street. For information, call 281‑888‑9677 or visit www.14pews.org. $5 to $10.
Sat., June 25, 7 p.m.; Sun., June 26, 5 p.m., 2011
This article appears in Jun 23-29, 2011.