Nev Shulman learns things aren't always as they seem in "Catfish"
There is plenty of talk about David Fincher’s The Social Network, a film due out this weekend about the rise of Facebook. In the meantime, an indie flick titled Catfish has been making waves in limited release as “the other Facebook movie.”
A documentary that debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in January, Catfish is an enthralling tale that allows us to question the way in which we use social networks like Facebook and the information and relationships we find there. I had a chance to see the engrossing film this past weekend in Birmingham.
Helmed by New York City filmmakers Ariel Shulman and Henry Joost, it centers on Ariel’s brother and photographer Nev Shulman, who has struck up an unlikely friendship with an 8-year-old amateur painter in northern Michigan named Abby.
He’s drawn into a relationship with her entire family – including her mother Angela and a romantic relationship with her older sister Megan. We watch him grow closer to the family through text messages, phone calls, Facebook posts and deliveries of Abby’s paintings – many of which are inspired by Nev’s photographs.
The documentary takes a dramatic turn as Nev begins to question how much of the information we encounter online is true. Soon enough we find our band of filmmakers and photographer traveling to Ishpeming, Mich. to meet this mysterious family. The twists in this movie take the story to a place you couldn’t quite predict. It also poses some really poignant questions about the use of social networks and who and what information we choose to trust.
It really goes beyond our own privacy settings. Catfish made me think beyond the information I put online about myself. I use networks like Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Yelp, Flipbook, Paper.li and more on a daily basis. I contemplate the impact of what information I release to the public. But this film shows how easily information may be manipulated, transformed, confused. It’s a powerful message.
Do you ever wonder about the connections you’ve made online and how authentic they might be? Tell us about it.
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[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Naomi Cremen, Paragon Apartments. Paragon Apartments said: Catfish – the other FB movie – features a Michigan family. It also poses the ? well do you know your FB friends? http://ow.ly/2KE4W [...]