Country
United States
Year
1971
Language
English spoken, no subtitles
Director
William Greaves
Duration
76 min
Three cameras document this documentary-in-a-documentary-in-a-documentary. There is no plot or script, and the film is harder to grasp than the title is to pronounce.
The camera of director William Greaves films the screen tests of several actors; a second camera captures Greaves and the actors; and the third camera films the whole event.
Of the film at the core of the documentary, for which the screen tests are being conducted, only the vague working title Over the Cliff is known, along with the theme: sexuality. Whether on set or not, everything they film must be "continuously related to sexuality," Greaves instructs. The cast and crew speculate about the director's intentions. The third camera shows them in a heated discussion about the project. Is he just winging it or is he a genius? "For all we know, Bill is directing this whole scene from behind the door. Maybe we're all just acting," one of them ponders.
The crew sits with the viewers in a limbo between fiction and non-fiction, accompanied by the jazz of Miles Davis, as Greaves attempts to orchestrate a "creative cinematic experience."
Features an extensive introduction by film journalist Hugo Emmerzael.
4:00 PM - 5:42 PM
€ 14.00
Camera 4
It's not what you look at, it's what you see
International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam in Groningen is the chance to see the documentary hits of the coming year on the big screen.
