Notfilm
{{Infobox film
| name = Notfilm
| image =
| caption =
| director = Ross Lipman
| producer =
| writer = Ross Lipman
| narrator =
| starring = Ross Lipman, Kevin Brownlow, S.E. Gontarski, James Karen, Leonard Maltin, Barney Rosset, Haskell Wexler, Billie Whitelaw
| music =
| cinematography =
| editing = Ross Lipman
| distributor = Milestone Film & Video, Inc.
| released = {{Film date|2015|10|17|BFI London Film Festival}}
| runtime = 130 minutes
| country = United States
| language = English
}}
Notfilm is a 2015 feature-length documentary, directed by Ross Lipman on the production of playwright Samuel Beckett's only film,{{cite web|last1=Movshovitz|first1=Howie|title=Buster Keaton And Samuel Beckett Walk Into A Movie Studio|url=https://www.npr.org/2016/04/10/473536101/buster-keaton-and-samuel-beckett-walk-into-a-movie-studio|website=npr|publisher=npr|accessdate=9 December 2016}} an experimental short titled Film starring Buster Keaton.
While conducting preliminary research to restore Film, filmmaker and restorationist Ross Lipman visited Grove Press founder and Film producer Barney Rosset at his apartment, where Lipman discovered reels of film and audio. This material contained outtakes from Beckett's 1965 production, including a prologue long-thought lost.{{cite web|last1=Monaghan|first1=Peter|title=An Odd Couple: Samuel Beckett & Buster Keaton|url=http://www.movingimagearchivenews.org/an-odd-couple-samuel-beckett-buster-keaton/|website=Moving Image Archive News|accessdate=9 December 2016}}
Notfilm reconstructs this prologue and integrates rare audio of Beckett's voice, surreptitiously recorded by Rosset, in a self-described "Kino Essay" that analyzes the philosophical foundation of Film, arguing it was an expression of Samuel Beckett's own distaste for the public eye.{{cite web|last1=Jones|first1=J.R.|title=Buster Keaton did his own stunts, which included working with Samuel Beckett|url=http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/notfilm-samuel-beckett-buster-keaton-ross-lipman/Content?oid=21960517|website=Chicago Reader|accessdate=9 December 2016}}
Synopsis
Both a traditional making-of documentary and an essayistic exploration into the philosophical implications of Samuel Beckett's Film, Notfilm outlines the circumstances leading to its production, the production process and its critical reception. Director Ross Lipman's narration outlines the philosophical foundation of Film as a rebuttal of the Irish philosopher George Berkeley’s premise that “to be is to be perceived.” Audio secretly recorded by Rosset at a production meeting leads into an examination of Beckett's own distaste for being filmed and photographed.
Critical reception
Following an October 2015 world premiere at the BFI London Film Festival,{{Cite web |title=Ross Lipman - "Notfilm" - David Isaacson {{!}} Seminary Co-op Bookstores |url=https://www.semcoop.com/event/ross-lipman-notfilm-david-isaacson |access-date=2023-10-20 |website=www.semcoop.com}} Notfilm went on to screen at several other festivals, including CPH:DOX, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Dublin Film Festival, Film Comment Selects, Hong Kong International Film Festival{{Citation |title=Notfilm (2015) {{!}} MUBI |url=https://mubi.com/pt/pt/films/notfilm |access-date=2023-10-20 |language=pt}} and Docs Against Gravity.{{Cite web |title=NotFilm – MILLENNIUM DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY FF |url=http://archiwum2016.docsag.pl/en/movies/notfilm/?dist=warszawa |access-date=2023-10-20 |language=en-GB}}
It appeared on several Best of the Year lists, including Nicole Brenez's published in Artforum,{{cite journal|last1=Brenez|first1=Nicole|title=10 Best Films of 2015|journal=Artforum|date=December 2015}} in The New Republic{{cite web|last1=Grierson, Leitch|first1=Tim, Will|title=The Six Best Movies of the Year, So Far|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/134725/six-best-movies-year-far|website=New Republic|publisher=New Republic|accessdate=9 December 2016}} and in Paste.{{cite web|last1=Paste Movie Staff|title=The 25 Best Movies of 2016 (So Far)|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/06/the-25-best-films-of-2016-so-far.html|website=Paste|accessdate=9 December 2016}}
Notfilm was reviewed in the Los Angeles Times, Film Comment, The New Yorker, The Village Voice and Slate.{{Cite web |title=PRESS / HONORS |url=http://filmbysamuelbeckett.com/awardspress-reviews |access-date=2023-10-20 |website=NOTFILM / FILM |language=en-US}} In his review for The New York Times, A.O. Scott wrote "Notfilm finds a hitherto uncharted dimension of human and cinematic experience.”
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=3763790|title=Notfilm}}
{{Samuel Beckett|state=collapsed}}
Category:2015 documentary films
Category:American documentary films
Category:2010s English-language films