Exclusive: A Sheila E. documentary, a film from The Two Killings of Sam Cooke director about growing up female in the Deep South, and a free speech project from Julia Bacha are among those films awarded a grant from a Covid-19 doc fund.
Xtr, the documentary studio set up by Ryot co-founder Bryn Mooser, Knock Down The House producer Wavelength Productions and new partner Park Pictures, the company behind The Truffle Hunters, partnered on the Keep The Lights On Fund to help struggling documentary filmmakers finish projects hit by the shutdown.
The collaboration offered filmmakers between $5,000 and $10,000 to help support post-production budgets or filmmakers’ personal expenses during the shutdown.
Some 12 of the 15 winners are helmed by female directors.
The fund was available for U.S.-based documentary filmmakers with feature-length films in post-production, films that were scheduled for completion in 2020 prior to the pandemic, films that address contemporary issues and premium,...
Xtr, the documentary studio set up by Ryot co-founder Bryn Mooser, Knock Down The House producer Wavelength Productions and new partner Park Pictures, the company behind The Truffle Hunters, partnered on the Keep The Lights On Fund to help struggling documentary filmmakers finish projects hit by the shutdown.
The collaboration offered filmmakers between $5,000 and $10,000 to help support post-production budgets or filmmakers’ personal expenses during the shutdown.
Some 12 of the 15 winners are helmed by female directors.
The fund was available for U.S.-based documentary filmmakers with feature-length films in post-production, films that were scheduled for completion in 2020 prior to the pandemic, films that address contemporary issues and premium,...
- 5/29/2020
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Below you will find our total coverage of the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival, including a round up on experimental short films, reviews, and the festival-spanning dialog between our two main critics at Tiff. More interviews will be added to the index as they are published.
Correspondences
Between Fernando F. Croce and Daniel Kasman
#1
Fernando F. Croce on Pedro Costa's Horse Money, Lisandro Alonso's Jauja, and Olivier Assayas' Clouds of Sils Maria
#2
Daniel Kasman on Pedro Costa's Horse Money, Peter Ho-Sun Chan's Dearest, Roy Andersson's A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, Takashi Miike's Over Your Dead Body, and Sono Sion's Tokyo Tribe
#3
Fernando F. Croce on Sono Sion's Tokyo Tribe, Jessica Hausner's Amour Fou, Johnnie To's Don't Go Breaking My Heart 2, and Abel Ferrara's Pasolini
#4
Daniel Kasman on Alexandre Larose's brouillard passage #14, Friedl vom Gröller's...
Correspondences
Between Fernando F. Croce and Daniel Kasman
#1
Fernando F. Croce on Pedro Costa's Horse Money, Lisandro Alonso's Jauja, and Olivier Assayas' Clouds of Sils Maria
#2
Daniel Kasman on Pedro Costa's Horse Money, Peter Ho-Sun Chan's Dearest, Roy Andersson's A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence, Takashi Miike's Over Your Dead Body, and Sono Sion's Tokyo Tribe
#3
Fernando F. Croce on Sono Sion's Tokyo Tribe, Jessica Hausner's Amour Fou, Johnnie To's Don't Go Breaking My Heart 2, and Abel Ferrara's Pasolini
#4
Daniel Kasman on Alexandre Larose's brouillard passage #14, Friedl vom Gröller's...
- 9/16/2014
- by Notebook
- MUBI
Alleluia
Dear Fern,
Aye!—you make my festival experience sound like a superhuman toil! If anything, I'm seeing less than you, as you get the pleasures of catching up with the crème de la crème of Cannes. It seems like I see a lot because I'm often reporting on a slew of shorts, but remember, the Wavelengths shorts programs so central to my (any many others') Tiff experience are only four strong, over nearly as soon as they start, the Monday after the festival's opening night. Don't you see what I'm actually doing here? I'm luxuriating in your taking the pressure off me, handling all the much anticipated films by the big auteurs while I get to relax, scribbling notes in the margin about the smaller movies: you make my life easier! That being said, there are still some major films I need to tell you about, to begin wrapping the festival experience up.
Dear Fern,
Aye!—you make my festival experience sound like a superhuman toil! If anything, I'm seeing less than you, as you get the pleasures of catching up with the crème de la crème of Cannes. It seems like I see a lot because I'm often reporting on a slew of shorts, but remember, the Wavelengths shorts programs so central to my (any many others') Tiff experience are only four strong, over nearly as soon as they start, the Monday after the festival's opening night. Don't you see what I'm actually doing here? I'm luxuriating in your taking the pressure off me, handling all the much anticipated films by the big auteurs while I get to relax, scribbling notes in the margin about the smaller movies: you make my life easier! That being said, there are still some major films I need to tell you about, to begin wrapping the festival experience up.
- 9/15/2014
- by Daniel Kasman
- MUBI
September is here again, and it's time to delve into the cinematic bounty of the Wavelengths section of the Toronto International Film Festival, that rambunctious and idiosyncratic corner of the Reitman Machine largely cordoned off from commercial concerns and set aside for lovely and sometimes difficult film art. Despite the ever-changing profile of Tiff, stalwart programmer Andréa Picard has [cue needle-scratching-record sound] What? Yes, last year at this time, the avant-garde community thought we were seeing Ms. Picard leaving this position behind. Fortunately for us all, Tiff won her back.
And this is where things get interesting. Starting with this 2012 edition of the festival, the Wavelengths section is a much more broadly based, festival-wide category. In essence, it now subsumes the old Visions designation, which was Tiff’s home for formally challenging, feature-length arthouse fare. This merger, which may seem like a bit of a shotgun wedding to some, does in fact make sense.
And this is where things get interesting. Starting with this 2012 edition of the festival, the Wavelengths section is a much more broadly based, festival-wide category. In essence, it now subsumes the old Visions designation, which was Tiff’s home for formally challenging, feature-length arthouse fare. This merger, which may seem like a bit of a shotgun wedding to some, does in fact make sense.
- 9/11/2012
- MUBI
The fourth annual Migrating Forms media festival, which will run May 11-20 at the Anthology Film Archives in NYC, is a compelling mix of political films, pop culture explorations, ethnographic exposés and collections of new media art.
The fest begins and ends with political films directed and curated by Eric Baudelaire. His latest work, The Anabasis of May and Fusako Shigenobu, Masao Adachi and 27 Years without Images, opens the festival on May 11; while a pair of films – Masao Adachi & Kôji Wakamatsu’s Red Army/Pflp: Declaration of World War and The Dziga Vertov Group’s Ici et Ailleurs closes it on May 20.
Some of the special events sprinkled throughout the event include Ed Halter‘s survey of faux experimental films made for mainstream movies and TV shows that should prove to be an amazingly entertaining and enlightening discussion; a retrospective of the highly influential animation by Chuck Jones; the interactive...
The fest begins and ends with political films directed and curated by Eric Baudelaire. His latest work, The Anabasis of May and Fusako Shigenobu, Masao Adachi and 27 Years without Images, opens the festival on May 11; while a pair of films – Masao Adachi & Kôji Wakamatsu’s Red Army/Pflp: Declaration of World War and The Dziga Vertov Group’s Ici et Ailleurs closes it on May 20.
Some of the special events sprinkled throughout the event include Ed Halter‘s survey of faux experimental films made for mainstream movies and TV shows that should prove to be an amazingly entertaining and enlightening discussion; a retrospective of the highly influential animation by Chuck Jones; the interactive...
- 4/26/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The 8th annual Brakhage Center Symposium has been programmed by curator Kathy Geritz and will examine the concept of experimental narrative over three days of screenings and lectures on March 16-18 at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Geritz has pulled together a program in which experimental films explore notions of narrative through diverse means, whether combining with documentary or animated elements, or through nonlinear structure, or through the direct experience of time. As Geritz hopes: “In these different ways, the films presented will challenge and expand our expectations as they push the boundaries of storytelling conventions.”
Some of the filmmakers who will be present at the symposium are animators Stacey Steers and Chris Sullivan, experimental documentary filmmaker Amie Siegel and Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul, who will be screening his 1987 acclaimed feature film Syndromes and a Century and the more recent short film Emerald (2007).
Also, film critic and historian J.
Geritz has pulled together a program in which experimental films explore notions of narrative through diverse means, whether combining with documentary or animated elements, or through nonlinear structure, or through the direct experience of time. As Geritz hopes: “In these different ways, the films presented will challenge and expand our expectations as they push the boundaries of storytelling conventions.”
Some of the filmmakers who will be present at the symposium are animators Stacey Steers and Chris Sullivan, experimental documentary filmmaker Amie Siegel and Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul, who will be screening his 1987 acclaimed feature film Syndromes and a Century and the more recent short film Emerald (2007).
Also, film critic and historian J.
- 3/12/2012
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Updated through 4/28.
La Semaine de la Critique, known in the English-speaking world as Critics' Week, is celebrating its 50th year, and festivals and institutions from all over — and we at Mubi are excited to be among them — are chiming in with special series and retrospectives saluting some the greatest film that have premiered at this parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival. Watch this space for upcoming details. Meantime, here's the lineup for Critics' Week 2011.
Feature Films
Hagar Ben Asher's The Slut. This debut feature "will tell of a woman (Ben Asher herself) drifting away from one sexual encounter to another," writes Eithan Weitz at Ioncinema. Tamar’s behavior is fixed. One man after another, a hand job, a blow job, and so on. But she is also the mother of Mika and Noa, 12 and 8. She no longer seeks redemption, until Shai arrives. He comes in order to handle his dead mother’s property.
La Semaine de la Critique, known in the English-speaking world as Critics' Week, is celebrating its 50th year, and festivals and institutions from all over — and we at Mubi are excited to be among them — are chiming in with special series and retrospectives saluting some the greatest film that have premiered at this parallel section of the Cannes Film Festival. Watch this space for upcoming details. Meantime, here's the lineup for Critics' Week 2011.
Feature Films
Hagar Ben Asher's The Slut. This debut feature "will tell of a woman (Ben Asher herself) drifting away from one sexual encounter to another," writes Eithan Weitz at Ioncinema. Tamar’s behavior is fixed. One man after another, a hand job, a blow job, and so on. But she is also the mother of Mika and Noa, 12 and 8. She no longer seeks redemption, until Shai arrives. He comes in order to handle his dead mother’s property.
- 4/28/2011
- MUBI
The 50th edition of the Cannes Critics Week announced its lineup on Monday. War is declared by French director Valerie Donzelli will be the opening film of the Critics Week. Why are you crying? by Katia Lewcowicz will be the closing film of the selection.
The Special Session will include screening of Walk Away Renee by Jonathan Caouette (Etats-Unis/France/Belgique) and My Little Princess by Eva Ionesco (France).
Founded in 1962 by the Union of French Film Critics, the Critics Week is the oldest of the Cannes festival sidebars. Each year, a panel of international critics selects around a dozen shorts and features from first and second-time filmmakers to compete in this section.
This year, the event will take place from May12-20, 2011.
The complete lineup:
Feature films
Las Acacias by Giorgelli Pablo (Argentina / Spain)
Hail by Konstantin Bojanov (Bulgaria / France)
17 girls by Delphine Coulin, Coulin Muriel (France)
Sauna on...
The Special Session will include screening of Walk Away Renee by Jonathan Caouette (Etats-Unis/France/Belgique) and My Little Princess by Eva Ionesco (France).
Founded in 1962 by the Union of French Film Critics, the Critics Week is the oldest of the Cannes festival sidebars. Each year, a panel of international critics selects around a dozen shorts and features from first and second-time filmmakers to compete in this section.
This year, the event will take place from May12-20, 2011.
The complete lineup:
Feature films
Las Acacias by Giorgelli Pablo (Argentina / Spain)
Hail by Konstantin Bojanov (Bulgaria / France)
17 girls by Delphine Coulin, Coulin Muriel (France)
Sauna on...
- 4/19/2011
- by NewsDesk
- DearCinema.com
Last year the Cannes Film Festival Critics’ Week includes Janus Metz‘s fantastic war doc Armadillo (in limited theaters as of last week) and Quentin Dupieux‘s delightfully wacky Rubber. Today, 2011′s line-up has been unveiled. The two big films include one of my favorites from Sundance, Jeff Nichol’s Shotgun Stories follow-up Take Shelter (starring Man of Steel’s Michael Shannon) and Jonathan Caouette‘s first feature since his intimate documentary Tarnation, titled Walk away Renée. Check out the full list below (as well as the rest of the line-up here) and come back for our reviews straight from Cannes.
Feature Films
• Las Acacias, directed by Pablo Giorgelli – Arg
• Ave, directed by Konstantin Bojanov – Bul/Fr
• 17 Filles, directed by Delphine & Muriel Coulin – Fr
• The Slut (Hanotenet), directed by Hagar Ben Asher – Isr/All
• Snowtown (Les Crimes de Snowtown), directed by Justin Kurzel – Aus
• Sauna on Moon, directed by Zou Peng – Chi
• Take Shelter,...
Feature Films
• Las Acacias, directed by Pablo Giorgelli – Arg
• Ave, directed by Konstantin Bojanov – Bul/Fr
• 17 Filles, directed by Delphine & Muriel Coulin – Fr
• The Slut (Hanotenet), directed by Hagar Ben Asher – Isr/All
• Snowtown (Les Crimes de Snowtown), directed by Justin Kurzel – Aus
• Sauna on Moon, directed by Zou Peng – Chi
• Take Shelter,...
- 4/18/2011
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
A Sundance favorite, a follow-up to a budget-less art house hit, and an anticipated Israeli film are a few of the highlights from the announced lineup for the 2011 Critic's Week (aka Semaine de la Critique), the oldest sidebar in Cannes. The selection only admits films which are either debut or sophomore efforts, so we'll be going in knowing scant details on what to expect, and likely coming out with some new major voices to follow. As we can see in the quintet of posters, past Critic's Week discoveries includes cinema gods Wong Kar-wai and Bernardo Bertolucci, as well as Jacques Audiard and Barbet Schroeder. As this is the sidebar's 50th anniversary, there might be even more treats to be announced in the near future. Yesterday, we reported that Hagar Ben Asher's The Slut had been selected for competition, and this was corroborated this morning. Ben Asher is an alumni of...
- 4/18/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
(via Peter Knegt at IndieWire) Feature Films • Las Acacias, directed by Pablo Giorgelli – Arg • Ave, directed by Konstantin Bojanov – Bul/Fr • 17 Filles, directed by Delphine & Muriel Coulin – Fr • The Slut...
- 4/18/2011
- by Ryan Adams
- AwardsDaily.com
Feb. 12
8:00 p.m.
Millennium Film Workshop
66 East 4th St.
New York, New York 10003
Hosted by: Millennium Film Workshop
To celebrate the publication of the 53rd issue of the Millennium Film Journal, the Film Workshop will be screening a selection of films that are discussed in the journal. The full lineup of films as well as the table of contents are listed below.
Each issue of the journal is dedicated to a particular theme. Issue #53 deals with the subjects of migration and dislocation. Articles include reviews of the 2010 New York Film Festival’s Views From the Avant-Garde section and of the excellent Treasures IV: American Avant-Garde Film 1947-1986 DVD box set. Plus, there are interviews with filmmakers Peter Rose and Vincent Grenier, who each have a film screening, as well as tributes to the late Tom Chomont and Gary Beydler, who are both also represented with a film at this event.
8:00 p.m.
Millennium Film Workshop
66 East 4th St.
New York, New York 10003
Hosted by: Millennium Film Workshop
To celebrate the publication of the 53rd issue of the Millennium Film Journal, the Film Workshop will be screening a selection of films that are discussed in the journal. The full lineup of films as well as the table of contents are listed below.
Each issue of the journal is dedicated to a particular theme. Issue #53 deals with the subjects of migration and dislocation. Articles include reviews of the 2010 New York Film Festival’s Views From the Avant-Garde section and of the excellent Treasures IV: American Avant-Garde Film 1947-1986 DVD box set. Plus, there are interviews with filmmakers Peter Rose and Vincent Grenier, who each have a film screening, as well as tributes to the late Tom Chomont and Gary Beydler, who are both also represented with a film at this event.
- 2/8/2011
- by screenings
- Underground Film Journal
Happy Halloween! If I can start off on a scary — albeit a bit self-serving — note, if you’re looking for some spooky, creepy, frightening and sometimes a bit disgusting films to watch today, please visit Bad Lit’s short horror movie index page. Some great stuff in there if you click around. Now onto our regular links: If short horror movies are my “must see” link of the week, then my absolute Must Read link is j.j. murphy’s review of Andy Warhol’s recently preserved and unleashed Face, which focuses on the beautiful face of Edie Sedgwick. This film has sadly been out of circulation for 40 years. The Phantom of Pulp took a time out while making a documentary in Australia to take some awesome photos of a cemetery. Ella thinks that Kanye West is a filmmaker who should be considered on the same level as Andy Warhol and Salvador Dali.
- 10/31/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Yes, we're excited to see "Iron Man 2," "Inception" and God help us, "Predators." But what we're really looking forward to spending a few hours in the company of an undertaking Bill Murray ("Get Low"), an Italian-speaking Tilda Swinton ("I Am Love") and a toga-wearing Rachel Weisz ("Agora") in the comfort of air-conditioned theater over the next three months. (Either that or we'll be enjoying them from the comfort of home online, on demand or on DVD.)
There are no less than 114 independently produced movies arriving in theaters this summer to compete with the big studio blockbusters and we've compiled this helpful guide that covers all of them. Yet realizing that the latest arthouse and foreign fare is subject to changing dates, particularly if you don't live in Los Angeles or New York, we've also included links to follow the films on Twitter, Facebook and release schedules where available, so...
There are no less than 114 independently produced movies arriving in theaters this summer to compete with the big studio blockbusters and we've compiled this helpful guide that covers all of them. Yet realizing that the latest arthouse and foreign fare is subject to changing dates, particularly if you don't live in Los Angeles or New York, we've also included links to follow the films on Twitter, Facebook and release schedules where available, so...
- 5/11/2010
- by Stephen Saito
- ifc.com
The second annual Migrating Forms experimental media festival will descend on the Anthology Film Archives in NYC on May 14-23 featuring the world’s greatest experimental videos, cultural documentaries, some that are a little of both; plus, several filmmaker retrospectives, some classic films and the endearingly popular Tube Time! video tournament.
Migrating Forms is such an entirely different beast than its predecessor, the New York Underground Film Festival, that we don’t have to keep saying this new event arose from the Nyuff’s ashes, do we? Ok, we’ll just say that one more time. Next year we won’t mention it because, even in it’s first year, Migrating Forms proved itself to be a completely unique arena in the field of experimental media making.
A couple of highlights from the lineup below: The new feature film by cultural explorer Kevin Jerome Everson, Erie, which captures life in...
Migrating Forms is such an entirely different beast than its predecessor, the New York Underground Film Festival, that we don’t have to keep saying this new event arose from the Nyuff’s ashes, do we? Ok, we’ll just say that one more time. Next year we won’t mention it because, even in it’s first year, Migrating Forms proved itself to be a completely unique arena in the field of experimental media making.
A couple of highlights from the lineup below: The new feature film by cultural explorer Kevin Jerome Everson, Erie, which captures life in...
- 5/6/2010
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
New York Film Forum
NEW YORK -- Like a patient who has been in therapy far too long, this debut feature from Amie Siegel exploring the nature of psychoanalysis is basically spinning its own wheels.
Using various dramatic techniques and interweaving a fictional scenario with documentary portions, "Empathy" explores a fascinating subject in a self-indulgent and less-than-illuminating manner. Not exactly destined to be a favorite of psychiatric professionals, who don't come off here looking their best, the film's off-putting structure will make it a tough commercial sell. It received its U.S. theatrical premiere at New York's Film Forum.
Writer-director Siegel combines several approaches in the film, interweaving, among other things: interviews with a trio of white, middle-age shrinks in which they detail their inner-thoughts about the process and their patients; a fictional story involving one such patient, a young actress; a look at the various performers trying out for the role of the aforementioned patient; and a PBS-style documentary examination of the interconnection between modernist design and psychoanalysis, with an emphasis on the famous Eames chair.
The melange never quite works, with the result being that the film seems more reflective of its maker's stylistic ambitions than a serious examination of its subject. This is particularly the case when it is revealed that the fictional therapist in the dramatic section of the film is revealed to be an actual psychiatrist, and indeed one so principled that he refuses to break confidentiality even in terms of discussing a fictional patient. And while the section on the Eames chair is indeed interesting, it comes across as an absurd digression.
The most interesting and also disturbing sections of the film are the interviews with the various shrinks, one of whom candidly discusses his sexual attraction for and fantasies about his female patients. While he reveals nothing that many women haven't probably already figured out by themselves, his eager enthusiasm nonetheless feels more than a bit creepy.
NEW YORK -- Like a patient who has been in therapy far too long, this debut feature from Amie Siegel exploring the nature of psychoanalysis is basically spinning its own wheels.
Using various dramatic techniques and interweaving a fictional scenario with documentary portions, "Empathy" explores a fascinating subject in a self-indulgent and less-than-illuminating manner. Not exactly destined to be a favorite of psychiatric professionals, who don't come off here looking their best, the film's off-putting structure will make it a tough commercial sell. It received its U.S. theatrical premiere at New York's Film Forum.
Writer-director Siegel combines several approaches in the film, interweaving, among other things: interviews with a trio of white, middle-age shrinks in which they detail their inner-thoughts about the process and their patients; a fictional story involving one such patient, a young actress; a look at the various performers trying out for the role of the aforementioned patient; and a PBS-style documentary examination of the interconnection between modernist design and psychoanalysis, with an emphasis on the famous Eames chair.
The melange never quite works, with the result being that the film seems more reflective of its maker's stylistic ambitions than a serious examination of its subject. This is particularly the case when it is revealed that the fictional therapist in the dramatic section of the film is revealed to be an actual psychiatrist, and indeed one so principled that he refuses to break confidentiality even in terms of discussing a fictional patient. And while the section on the Eames chair is indeed interesting, it comes across as an absurd digression.
The most interesting and also disturbing sections of the film are the interviews with the various shrinks, one of whom candidly discusses his sexual attraction for and fantasies about his female patients. While he reveals nothing that many women haven't probably already figured out by themselves, his eager enthusiasm nonetheless feels more than a bit creepy.
New York Film Forum
NEW YORK -- Like a patient who has been in therapy far too long, this debut feature from Amie Siegel exploring the nature of psychoanalysis is basically spinning its own wheels.
Using various dramatic techniques and interweaving a fictional scenario with documentary portions, "Empathy" explores a fascinating subject in a self-indulgent and less-than-illuminating manner. Not exactly destined to be a favorite of psychiatric professionals, who don't come off here looking their best, the film's off-putting structure will make it a tough commercial sell. It received its U.S. theatrical premiere at New York's Film Forum.
Writer-director Siegel combines several approaches in the film, interweaving, among other things: interviews with a trio of white, middle-age shrinks in which they detail their inner-thoughts about the process and their patients; a fictional story involving one such patient, a young actress; a look at the various performers trying out for the role of the aforementioned patient; and a PBS-style documentary examination of the interconnection between modernist design and psychoanalysis, with an emphasis on the famous Eames chair.
The melange never quite works, with the result being that the film seems more reflective of its maker's stylistic ambitions than a serious examination of its subject. This is particularly the case when it is revealed that the fictional therapist in the dramatic section of the film is revealed to be an actual psychiatrist, and indeed one so principled that he refuses to break confidentiality even in terms of discussing a fictional patient. And while the section on the Eames chair is indeed interesting, it comes across as an absurd digression.
The most interesting and also disturbing sections of the film are the interviews with the various shrinks, one of whom candidly discusses his sexual attraction for and fantasies about his female patients. While he reveals nothing that many women haven't probably already figured out by themselves, his eager enthusiasm nonetheless feels more than a bit creepy.
NEW YORK -- Like a patient who has been in therapy far too long, this debut feature from Amie Siegel exploring the nature of psychoanalysis is basically spinning its own wheels.
Using various dramatic techniques and interweaving a fictional scenario with documentary portions, "Empathy" explores a fascinating subject in a self-indulgent and less-than-illuminating manner. Not exactly destined to be a favorite of psychiatric professionals, who don't come off here looking their best, the film's off-putting structure will make it a tough commercial sell. It received its U.S. theatrical premiere at New York's Film Forum.
Writer-director Siegel combines several approaches in the film, interweaving, among other things: interviews with a trio of white, middle-age shrinks in which they detail their inner-thoughts about the process and their patients; a fictional story involving one such patient, a young actress; a look at the various performers trying out for the role of the aforementioned patient; and a PBS-style documentary examination of the interconnection between modernist design and psychoanalysis, with an emphasis on the famous Eames chair.
The melange never quite works, with the result being that the film seems more reflective of its maker's stylistic ambitions than a serious examination of its subject. This is particularly the case when it is revealed that the fictional therapist in the dramatic section of the film is revealed to be an actual psychiatrist, and indeed one so principled that he refuses to break confidentiality even in terms of discussing a fictional patient. And while the section on the Eames chair is indeed interesting, it comes across as an absurd digression.
The most interesting and also disturbing sections of the film are the interviews with the various shrinks, one of whom candidly discusses his sexual attraction for and fantasies about his female patients. While he reveals nothing that many women haven't probably already figured out by themselves, his eager enthusiasm nonetheless feels more than a bit creepy.
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