SUM OF US plays as part of the Paris International Film Festival 2021, taking place 4th – 14th February 2021.
Tickets available at: https://www.parisintlfest.com/
In light of current global events, it is clear that people are crying out for escapism through the age-old principles of story-telling and in the realm of the acting world, practitioners and students alike are crying out for clarity and contrast through their own artistic and emotional desire.
SUM OF US will, at first glance, have more appeal to actors in development and transition (considering that the entertainment and theatre industry have been deeply affected by closures and restrictions), but in turn it might also awaken the deeper mindsets of those who might question the validity of acting as a whole.
Creator and director Anthony Meindl first workshopped the essence of this film to try to deconstruct the myths that surround the process of thespianism and try to get to the heart of why acting is such a peculiar and strong-armed fascination for millions of people who are enthralled, both by those who play out their own individual processes during some classic examples of Film, TV and Theatre and those who they are playing to.
Using a mix of personal interviews with his students on screen, coupled with their own dramatic scenes and stories played out as conventional narrative, Meindl invites the audience to enjoy and then reflect on the processes through a series of mini tales focusing on a variety of subjects.
Now, at first glance, the multiple stories that chop and change might be a little disorientating, but that seems to be one of the key points of a concept and a film that is also designed to question the definition and value of pure story-telling. One perspective might be that a story can be told a billion different ways using both dissimilar and similar characterisation, as well as a mix of genre and personal belief.
As mentioned before, the core appeal of the film will be to actors who are exploring the process for their own development as certain emotional realities will kick in dependent on their own source of training and it is primarily an experimental piece that is designed to unlock perceptions, but there is an opportunity for non-actors and people to question their own ideas about what it means to them the next time they look at a drama or film for entertainment.
At the end of the day, acting and story-telling will always retain a cathartic mystique and fascination for everyone as we will always look for stories that bring out our own empathetic and sympathetic points of view – and perhaps unleash and unlock suppressed ideas and inspiration that we never knew were there, but always were subconsciously aware of.
Enjoy SUM OF US first, question later.
Follow Anthony Meindl on instagram: @anthonymeindl
