The Pez Outlaw

Steve Glew lives on a small farm in Michigan and is in debt. After the Berlin Wall comes down he gets on a plane to Eastern Europe. His aim is to find the factories producing Pez dispenser heads that are not sold in America. If he does, he will bring them back in suitcases, sell them to collectors, and get his family out of poverty. He does this for years and actually gets rich, until the Pez company works out what is happening. Bryan Storkel's documentary tells the story in Glew's own words and deliberately gives room to his exaggerated, self-mythologising account. The reconstructions follow that register: Glew sees himself as a smuggler and the company's representative as his nemesis. The real subject underneath is not collecting but a small man's need to build himself a story. Who it's for: Viewers who like strange true stories, the world of collecting, and character-led documentary. Who it's not for: The account rests on a single source with almost nothing from the other side. The reconstructions will also strike some viewers as over-stylised.