Gifted and Challenged: The Making of 'Shortbus' (2007) (V)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

M. Sean Kaminsky

Release Date:

13 March 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Short

Plot:

A look at the unusual process used in the making of the film Shortbus (2006) featuring interviews, behind...

Plot Keywords:

Making Of | Behind The Scenes | Independent Film

Cast

Raphael Barker	...	Rob
Lindsay Beamish	...	Severin
Justin Bond	...	Himself
Jay Brannan	...	Ceth
Jonathan Caouette	...	Himself
Shanti Carson	...	Leah
Miek Coccia	...	Himself
Paul Dawson	...	James / Himself (as Paul 'Pinto' Dawson)
PJ DeBoy	...	Jamie
Howard Gertler	...	Himself
Maya Hardinge	...	Herself
Timothy Heber	...	Himself (as Tim Heber)
Jasper James	...	Jasper
Bel Jordan	...	Himself
Sook-Yin Lee	...	Sofia
John Cameron Mitchell	...	Himself
Tim Perell	...	Himself
Louis Schwadron	...	Himself
Susan Shopmaker	...	Herself
Peter Stickles	...	Caleb

Runtime:

USA:31 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:TV-MA

Company:

Spectrum Media Productions

Trivia:

This documentary is featured on the DVD for Shortbus (2006).

Movie Connections:

Features Shortbus (2006)

Interesting if slightly pretentious review of an organic creative process

Having seen the film Shortbus and been rather taken aback by the sexual content and drawn in by the emotional content and convincing characters, so I was interested enough to see the story behind the making of it. This short film covers a lot of ground, from the concept to the casting to the premier at Cannes but it does it in just about enough detail to give you the full sweep of the process. Mitchell makes for an interesting guide through this process as we see the actors audition, cast and start to deal with the challenges of making a film with the content of Shortbus.

Mostly the film is very interesting as it gives a chance to witness this rather organic creative process happening over a short period of time. As such it is engaging on this level but it is hard to deny that it is rather pretentious at times and the justification for the sex and nudity is not as well carried in casual discussion as much as it was in the film itself. This didn't put me off the short documentary though because I did find it interesting to see the process – even if some of it was far removed from my experiences as a non-acting, non-creative type (ie a troglodyte).

Anyway, not a brilliant documentary but an interesting one. Given that Shortbus was such an organic and arty creation, a documentary following the creative process does have some value even if you may scoff at some of it.