When 20-something Matthew VanDyke abandoned the stodgy stale comfort of his Baltimore home he went to the one place in the world that he probably should have avoided — Libya.
Sure he may only have been seeking to satisfy his youthful thirst for adventure by trekking across the Middle East on a motorbike but once he landed in the midst of a civil uprising at the height of the Arab Spring he was soon recruited into the Libyan rebel army — a gun in one hand his video camera in the other.
Compellingly captured by two-time Oscar-nominated filmmaker Marshall Curry the stirring documentary Point and Shoot has gained the attention of many critics. It’s also been dividing audiences — a fact that seems to satisfy its proficient filmmaker.
“After our première at Tribeca (Film Festival) I walked across the street for dinner and overheard two separate tables with people yelling at each other about their interpretation of the film” says Curry during a recent interview in advance of the film’s première in Calgary on Friday January 9. “That was music to my ears.”
Curry is no stranger to producing provocation on celluloid. In what is perhaps his most well-known work the New Jersey director split cinema-goers with his 2011 award-winner If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front — a feature that peeks behind the curtain of a radical environmental movement that was labelled a “terrorist” organization for its extreme acts against those devoted to deforestation.
Likewise Point and Shoot doesn’t takes sides mostly letting VanDyke tell his own divisive story — in this case through his own incredible footage. When the young American joined the revolt against dictator Muammar Gaddafi he began videotaping his experience until his capture and six-month incarceration by Gaddafi forces. A breathtaking tale to be sure it also asks audiences to throw their own opinions about modern-day narcissism and culture into the mix.
“Matt is a fascinating complex and layered person who different audience members see very differently” says Curry. “I have my own point of view about him and I don’t think everyone’s view is equally right but I wanted the film to be the beginning of a conversation rather than a neatly sewn up theorem. It isn’t a two-dimensional hagiography and it also isn’t a takedown. It’s a profile of a real person whose life and adventures shine light on questions about manhood and war and image-making.”
As mentioned much of the award-winning footage in Point and Shoot was provided via VanDyke’s own camera. However as much as the film is formulated by VanDyke’s thrilling first-person “crash course in manhood” Curry made sure to keep his subject at arm’s length from the project.
“When Matt first came to me with the project I told him I would only direct the film if I had complete creative independence and control” says Curry who admits he did show early edits to VanDyke. “I think we did that a total of four times over the course of the edit and I made changes when I thought the suggestions improved the film or made it more accurate. Also it should be noted that Matt had a creative hand in the way he shot his footage and the way he told his story during the 20-something hours of interviews that we did.”
Curry’s collaboration with VanDyke has certainly paid off. Point and Shoot not only earned the coveted Best Documentary Award at Tribeca but also ended up on several critics’ year-end lists — an additional honour that only humbles the acclaimed auteur.
“It’s an exciting and entertaining film but it’s also pretty unusual — the structure the editing the use of a single subjective voice telling his own story” says Curry. “I wasn’t sure whether people would understand the film’s perspective and the things I was trying to explore with it so it’s been very nice to hear from folks who seem to get it.”
Steve Gow is creator and writer of StrictlyDocs.com
POINT AND SHOOT directed by Marshall Curry opens on Friday January 9 at Globe Cinema.