Exist

An adventurous and wayward low-budget DV film that is set in the environment of squatters and anti-globalist political activists in Philadelphia. The film was made with a degree of improvisation. Bell did work with a script, but adapted it as soon as circumstances changed or other actors turned up. Most roles were however played by real activists, even if some of them also aspire to be actors (Bell describes them as actorvists). The film was motivated by the moment when Bell witnessed the arrest of 500 activists during the Republican National Convention in 2000. She wondered: `At what point do you leave your middle-class existence and decide to put yourself in danger for the sake of people halfway across the world?’ The story is set in a squat, an idealistic community of activists, but not without its simmering conflicts. In the period just before the threat of eviction, the conflicts explode. The story focuses on the clash between two kids from very different backgrounds. Not a protest film, but a film that investigates the underlying motives and feelings of those who live to protest. (GjZ)