The investigative film artist Pêra has embraced 3D film in recent years. In The Amazed Spectator, the cinematographic part of his graduation research on spectatorship, he also films in this unusual format for a film essay. He mixes action scenes in the cinema with projected interviews with filmmakers, scientists and critics such as Guy Maddin, F.J. Ossang, Laura Mulvey, Augusto M. Seabra, Olaf Möller and Wanda Strauven. The result is a film somewhere between a manifesto and an essay, between expressionism and trans-realism. In the dialogue between different kinds of spectators, the film tries to answer a variety of questions: which is more cinema, Citizen Kane on a smart phone or a football match on the silver screen? How many different kinds of surprise can be distinguished? Do Fear and Faith proceed amazement? What are the rights and responsibilities of the spectator? Should the spectator be paid? And what is left to surprise us in these times?
Film details
Country of production
Portugal
Year
2016
Festival edition
IFFR 2016
Length
70'
Medium/Format
DCP
Language
English, French, Portuguese
Premiere status
World premiere
Director
Edgar Pêra
Producer
Rodrigo Areias
Screenplay
Edgar Pêra
Cinematography
Edgar Pêra
Editing
Edgar Pêra
Production design
Edgar Pêra
Sound design
Pedro Góis, Artur Cyanetto
Principal cast
Olaf Möller, Henry Jenkins, Laura Mulvey, Guy Maddin