I was Here

Nathalie Biancheri

Authenticity vs performance in a mischievous film about the casting for a film, which turns out to be the one we are watching.
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86 min

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.