Buddy

If reality-TV did not exist, storytellers would have had to invent it. In fact, they did. From Paul Bartel's “The Secret Cinema” to Bernard Tavernier's “Death Watch” to Peter Weir's “The Truman Show,” moviemakers anticipated and vivisected video voyeurism and its values. Now even Average Joes from Ohio lower themselves to get married as part of a cheesy TV show; it seems like our worst imaginings have come to pass. The comedy-drama BUDDY is fiction…for now. Kristoffer, a billboard-hanger, dwells in a commune-style setting with eccentrics like his crazy best pal Geir and Stig Inge, an apparently agorophobic webmaster. When Kristoffer's lover dumps him for her boss, our hero pours his broken heart into a series of camcorder confessionals. By accident his digital diaries are seen by a TV producer and broadcast. Kristoffer's “simple life” captivates audiences, making him the next Scandinavian Idol. But the spotlight's glare turns away his cohorts and changes the people he truly cares about. What good is being everybody's buddy but no one's friend? (In Norwegian with English subtitles)