The day started with snow and ended with snow...in between, my attention drifted, Catfish received an avalanche of applause and luckily, no one flaked.
I began the day with the world premiere public screening of Catfish, directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, which is playing in the Spotlight section. The film follows the adventures of Nev (rhymes with "Steve"), a 24-year old New York-based photographer, when an eight-year old girl from Michigan contacts him asking permission to paint one of his photos. Eventually, he becomes friends (online) with her whole family. The filmmakers requested that we not reveal the details of the story so as not to ruin it for others, but it's not giving anything away to say that when everyone finally meets face-to-face, the family is not quite what Nev expected.
Nev Schulman, subject of Catfish
Catfish is a story about how we live NOW - an age where technology touches almost every aspect of our communication with one another. At the same time, it's a classic doc of discovery, a personal story about connection, relationships and deceit. The film earned a standing ovation from the audience. A big reason that it works is because Nev is an incredibly appealing subject to follow - he's funny, attractive and not shy about revealing his inner emotions in front of the camera. I'll be talking to the Catfish filmmakers later in the week, so stay tuned for a closer look.
And speaking of later, more on attention drift and YouTube in a bit...heading off for a screening of Waiting for Superman, David Guggenheim's new doc which was picked up at the start of the fest by Paramount Vantage.