Calendar – Past Event

"LOOT" FOLLOWS TWO WORLD WAR II VETS AS THEY
SEARCH FOR THEIR STOLEN TREASURES WHEN THE EXCLUSIVE
DOCUMENTARY DEBUTS MAY 20 ON HBO2

During World War II, two young American soldiers on different continents looted valuable treasures amidst the chaos of combat and hid them before returning to civilian life in America. Sixty years later, both men set out to recover the stolen goods, only to discover that digging up the secrets of the past carries its own risks. Winner of the Best Documentary Feature award at the 2008 Los Angeles Film Festival, LOOT tells their stories when the documentary debuts WEDNESDAY, MAY 20 (8:00-9:30 p.m. ET/PT), exclusively on HBO2.

Other HBO2 playdates: May 23 (1:30 p.m.) and 26 (11:30 a.m.)

Darrel stole 20 pounds of jewels, hid them in the attic of an Austrian farmhouse and returned home to Utah. Andy looted Samurai swords and jewels, burying them in the sands of the Philippines before returning to his native Arizona. Sixty years later, when both men are in failing health, they meet Lance, a used-car salesman, inventor, entrepreneur and amateur treasure hunter, who offers to help them recover the loot.

Darrel, now legally blind, is a Mormon bishop living in Provo, Utah. In summer 2005, he and Lance travel to Austria to retrieve the jewels, with no picture of the house and only a blind man's memory to guide them. In Steyr, Austria they wind up enlisting the help of a veteran who once fought in the war on the opposing side.

Living in a trailer on the Arizona-Nevada border, Andy is a hoarder who packs his home with everything from Elvis plates to weapons to pornography. Lance and Andy plan to travel to the Philippines, but the map Andy drew of the treasure site during the war is lost among the junk that has taken over his home. During an exhaustive ten-month search for the map, Andy's brutal war secrets rise to the surface.

While assisting Darrel and Andy, Lance discovers that both men lost 19-year-old sons to drug overdoses decades ago - an ominous revelation, since Lance's own 19-year-old son is battling addiction. Over the course of three years and three continents, all three move toward a common goal, and each will have to make a fateful choice: face the truth or bury it forever.
LOOT was directed by Darius Marder; executive produced by Dan Campbell; associate producers, Zebidiah Millett, Misha Collins and Charles Ramsey; cinematography by Anson Call and Darius Marder; edited by Darius Marder. For HBO: supervising producer, Sara Bernstein; executive producer, Sheila Nevins.