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“Authenticity vs performance in a mischievous film about the casting for a film, which turns out to be the one we are watching.”
Do you want to be in a documentary? A bunch of Englishmen have turned up at the casting for a film that turns out to be the one we are sitting and watching. A mixed gallery of characters, who paradoxically are hoping to be cast in the roles of themselves. 'I was Here' is a social experiment with brains, a heart and underplayed humour. The many attendees are as diverse as people are in the real world. Young and old, funny and bitter, self-confident and nervous - what are they hoping to find by taking part in a film? The obvious answer is the simplest one: themselves. We look on from the other side of the camera, as they take part in the experiment. The contradiction between authenticity and performance is not just a question of identity. It is also one of the basic conflicts of modern documentary filmmaking, which Ola Jankowska and Nathalie Bianchieri turn into both a premise and a method.
Director
Director
Status
Released
Original Language
EN
In Manhattan's Central Park, a film crew directed by William Greaves is shooting a screen test with various pairs of actors. It's a confrontation between a couple: he demands to know what's wrong, she challenges his sexual orientation. Cameras shoot the exchange, and another camera records Greaves and his crew. Sometimes we watch the crew discussing this scene, its language, and the process of making a movie. Is there such a thing as natural language? Are all things related to sex? The camera records distractions - a woman rides horseback past them; a garrulous homeless vet who sleeps in the park chats them up. What's the nature of making a movie?
