Fellipe Gamarano Barbosa’s latest documentary is about Laura, an aging socialite from South America who spends most of her time trapezing around the outer circles of the rich and famous, going from parties to parties attempting to get noticed. Laura herself is neither rich or famous and lives in a lower class apartment complex which houses among other things, mountains of memorabilia taken from these parties.
The film provides little background as to why Laura chooses this lifestyle, how she really made the connections that allow her to go to these parties and what her goal really is. The Filmmakers originally opted for a fly on the wall approach but as the film progresses, the filmmakers become more and more apart of the documentary itself. What seemingly start offs as a film about a socialite and perhaps a look at the emptiness that is the pursuit of fame quickly descends into an odd piece that starts to intertwine Laura and the filmmakers. I have rarely seen a filmmaker unwillingly get as involved in the documentary as this one so it was interesting to see how the relationship between Laura and the film makers progresses over the course of the film. It’s a reasonably enjoyable documentary and the twist halfway through the film makes it pretty unique.
SCREENINGS
Sun, Apr 29 7:00 PM, The ROM Theatre
Tue, May 1 4:00 PM, The ROM Theatre
Sat, May 5 4:00 PM, Cumberland 2