Review: ‘Cameraperson’

Hot Docs 2016

/
2 mins read

Cameraperson
(USA, 102 min.)
Dir. Kristen Johnson
Programme: Artscapes (International Premiere)

 

With Cameraperson, the cinematographer and filmmaker Kirsten Johnson performs quite the coup: through documenting her own work, she interrogates herself and her process. Her film mixes the experimentation of the avant garde with the direct focus of verité and the intimacy of a web journal with the visceral thrill of a behind-the-scenes doc. It showcases, in a unique and extraordinary way, a decade and a half of working in the documentary trenches, working on films like Citizenfour, A Place at the Table and The Invisible War.

Johnson’s work provides a meditation on the craft of capturing the unequivocal truth of the non-fiction frame, allowing viewers to witness the quotidian reality of filmmaking, from the earned panting of Johnson as she runs ahead of her subject for a shot to the subtle grooming of grass blocking a given shot. From urban jungles to bleak warzones, each locale plays off the other, forming a mosaic of memories.

The films that Johnson has shot or directed run the gamut from personal pieces to celebrity biopics to political documentaries, and each element is captured in ways that seem to provide justice to the subject. It’s the moments that are excised in the masterworks that provide Johnson’s own film the thrills, crafting a kind of alternate, Rashomon -like facet to these oft-famous docs. As an autobiography, it’s unparalleled, as it provides a showcase of the last 25 years of documentaries. Cameraperson is an entertaining, engaging work, which is surely one of the finest non-fiction films of the year.

 

Hot Docs runs April 28 – May 8. Visit www.hotdocs.ca for more information.

Jason Gorber is a film journalist and member of the Toronto Film Critics Association. He is the Managing Editor/Chief Critic at ThatShelf.com and a regular contributor for POV Magazine, RogerEbert.com and CBC Radio. His has written for Slashfilm, Esquire, The Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail, The National Post, Screen Anarchy, HighDefDigest, Birth.Movies.Death, IndieWire and more. He has appeared on CTV NewsChannel, CP24, and many other broadcasters. He has been a jury member at the Reykjavik International Film Festival, Calgary Underground Film Festival, RiverRun Film Festival, TIFF Canada's Top 10, Reel Asian and Fantasia's New Flesh Award. Jason has been a Tomatometer-approved critic for over 20 years.

Previous Story

Review: ‘The Last Laugh’

Next Story

Review: ‘Life, Animated’

Latest from Blog

0 $0.00