Backyard movie

A short autobiographical film in which Weber uses material that he collected from the amateur family films of his father. The Weber family home movies, for instance with shots of the film-maker as a child, are juxtaposed with new material shot by Weber. For instance he combined shots of the Weber family on the beach with aesthetic shots of jumping dogs in the surf and athletic naked men. The silent images are accompanied by whining and towards the end stirring gypsy violin music. Weber wrote his commentary with a pen across the screen, stressing the autobiographical and diary nature of the film. Weber's outspoken gay aesthetics contrast starkly with the middle-class family scenes of the 'back-yard films' of his father. In his occasionally ironic commentary, Weber indicates how clumsily sexuality was tackled in his youth.The film is largely in black & white, but at the end there is a colourful section with shots of the blossoming garden of the Weber family; the picture of a 'happy' youth. Weber dedicated the film to his father and mother.