FilmPhobia

Loosely based on John Huston's 1980 horror film “Phobia,” FILMPHOBIA is a terrifyingly clinical film about images, control, and fear. Brazilian director Kiko Goifman's film features a documentary crew who are making a film about people's reactions to their greatest terrors. The crew has recruited rational-looking people with irrational fears, subjecting them to their worst nightmares in order to capture their reactions on film. Matter-of-factly stripped and shackled, the subjects, who are all there voluntarily, are led into situations that are excruciating for them, all the while being manipulated into position and photographed by the expressionless film crew. Between takes, the director within the film, prominent Belgian-Brazilian critic Jean-Claude Bernardet, engages his crew and colleagues in lengthy philosophical discussions. It becomes clear that with this project, he is trying to get to the root of many issues, including the nature of fear and the viewer's desire to watch. When does rational fear cross over into terror? Why do people sign up to participate in such a film? Are they masochists? Exhibitionists? And does that make us, the film crew and viewers of this film, voyeurs? (In Portuguese with English subtitles) – B.B.