Real West is an ethnographic portrait of two roadside ghost towns in South Dakota. It is also the tale of two elderly proprietors who devotedly maintain these sites. The film uses contact microphones and super-8mm film as archaeological tools to uncover the material traces of this living history. Kevin T. Allen is a filmmaker and sound artist who has exhibited at numerous venues, including MoMA, Margaret Mead Film Festival, Ann Arbor Film Festival, Berlin Directors Lounge, Ethnographic Terminalia, and Deep Wireless Festival of Radio Art. Recent research has lead him to find culture not exclusively in human forms, but also inherent in physical landscapes and material objects. He teaches documentary practice at The New School and is funded through the Jerome Foundation.