~ONDI TIMONER/WE LIVE IN PUBLIC/up-date !!


yep, that’s me.

doing the art rounds in Chelsea, on a few recent weekends – I noticed a whole bunch of complete strangers, nice, intelligent-looking strangers – waving hello to me. what gives ? I just sort of waved back. and then it slowly dawned on me – they must know me from WE LIVE IN PUBLIC !!

sure enough, WE LIVE IN PUBLIC was undergoing a little publicity surge – some additional summer heat in New York City. Apparently MOMA recently honored WE LIVE IN PUBLIC by announcing its purchase it for their prestigious film collection – and it was screened July 4th weekend at MOMA in honor of that acquisition.
see: MOMA Recent Film Acquisitions


MOVIES ON DEMAND – WE LIVE IN PUBLIC – is number 2 !!

then quickly followed an up-dated press release from the WE LIVE IN PUBLIC/INTERLOPER FILMS crew – WE LIVE IN PUBLIC – “is finally accessible to the masses via DVD and Video On Demand! It’s everywhere! We’ve been reaping consistent praise and buzz with continued great press and nonstop love . . . After much blood, sweat, and tears, we feel that we’ve created a little bit of history here. Over the course of our ground-breaking 6-city webcast DVD launch party (which drew 77,000online participants), we tracked the film’s rankings at the iTunes store. On March 1st, we were #43 in rentals and by the end of the event we had risen to #20, which is all well and good. BUT THEN, by the next morning … our film had blazed all the way up to #2 in rentals and #3 in sales and stayed there for the month of March!”

the Interloper team then goes on list the newest “phenomenal feedback” … “as we push the film out into the world”, including:

OnDemand
“Timoner has found a public visionary that goes to the the beat of his own drum, even if that means destruction.”
see: WLIP/OnDemand !!

Time
“The film holds out Harris as a kind of holy fool, a demented visionary who managed to anticipate the new normal of constant public exposure.”
see: ‘Web Privacy: In Praise of Oversharing’/Time !!

Cinematical
“She captured elements of the late 90s and early 2000s that I imagine will be seen decades from now by young people who will wish they’d been there.”
see: ‘DocTalk: Ondi Timoner’s ‘Dig!’ and ‘We Live in Public”/Cinematical !!

Pop Matters
We Live In Public demonstrates in shocking relief, the growing importance of social media in most people’s everyday lives is a recent phenomenon, but one that has its roots in our most basic feelings, a particularly effective way of addressing an age-old humann drive.”
see: ‘Someone to Watch Over Me: An interview with Ondi Timoner/Pop Matters !!

Roger Ebert
“[WLIP] is a remarkable film about a strange and prophetic man.”
see: WE LIVE IN PUBLIC/ROGER EBERT !!

San Francisco Chronicle
“To watch ‘We Live in Public’ is to wonder if the world we live in is just a reflection of one man’s neurosis – if Harris’s mix of emotional distance and rabid self-promotion has simply gone viral.”
see: WE LIVE IN PUBLIC/San Francisco Chronicle !!

DealNay
provides an extensive compilation of recent reviews.
see: Save $9.29/WE LIVE IN PUBLIC/DealNay !!


then there’s that great interview with Ondi at the Ambulante Film Festival founded by Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna !!


ONDI TOMONER and ROBERT REDFORD – SUNDANCE INSTITUTE LAB, UTAH. JUNE 2010
PHOTO COURTESY/INTERLOPER FILMS


ONDI TIMONER and ED HARRIS – SUNDANCE INSTITUTE LAB, UTAH. JUNE 2010
PHOTO COURTESY/INTERLOPER FILMS

from the Interloper crew:
“The folks at Sundance have been incredible fans and friends of Interloper Films, gracing 2 of our docs with Grand Jury Awards (Dig! in 2004 and WE LIVE IN PUBLIC in 2009) . . .”
(it’s worth noting ‘WE LIVE IN PUBLIC’ was up against the ‘SEPTEMBER ISSUE’ !! – nancy)
. . . “making Ondi the only person to receive that honor multiple times. So we were extra-thrilled when Ondi was invited back to Sundance this year for the prestigious Sundance Institute Directors Lab. While ‘WE LIVE In PUBLIC’ bends the brains of documentary fans worldwide and ‘COOl IT’ is being whipped into editorial submission, Ondi is sequestered in the mountains at the Sundance Institute, shooting practice scenes for her debut pre-scripted actor film, ‘THE PERFECT MOMENT’, based on the life of controversial photographer Robert Mapplethorpe. Ondi is one of eight directors chosen from around the world to undergo master training at this prestigious invite-only think tank. She is spending the month of June making her transition into this kind of storytelling with the daily guidance of advisors like Robert Redford, Ed Harris, Joan Tewkesbury, Douglas McGrath, Joan Darling, Gyula Gadzag, Michael Hoffman, Brad Siberling, Caleb Deschanel, among others, as she embarks on this new phase in her career. We spoke with Ondi from Sundance, and she described what she is experiencing as “Jedi warrior training” !!

see: Sundance Institute Announces 13 Projects for 2010 JUNE Directors & Screenwriters Labs.

additionally – WE LIVE IN PUBLIC – still seems to capturing the imagination in the U.K. !!

In early June, WE LIVE In PUBLIC aired on the U.K.’s More4 True Stories to an audience of 87,000 people up against the World cup, Big Brother and Borat !! The film was recognized as pick of the night by the Independent (UK), which cited the film as “an extraordinary tale of a man tragically just ahead of the curve – and. for anyone who’s ever clicked refresh on their Twitter feed a little too compulsively, required viewing.”
see: last night’s t.v./INDEPENDENT (UK) !!

The Guardian (UK) describes WE LIVE IN PUBLIC as an “incredible film” and had it as their pick of the week, as well.

TV PIXIE (UK) describes WE LIVE IN PUBLIC as a “startling precusor to the online environment we know know.” !!
see: WLIP/TV PIXIE
and highlighted their post – with a great photo of JOSH as his alter-ego – LUVVY !!


JOSH HARRIS and LUVVY – one and the same !!
PHOTO COURTESY/TV PIXIE (UK)

last, but not least on the U.K. front – you gotta love that dry Brit wit !!

The Arts Desk writes: “American film director Ondi Timoner’s documentary is an unsettling look at Harris’s struggle to find himself which could be viewed as a cautionary tale for any parents who use their television or PC as a child minder !!
see: “. . . the fears of a clown” !!/ArtsDesk !!

so, be sure to catch all the newest !! WE LIVE IN PUBLIC – downloads :
at: WE LIVE IN PUBLIC/EXCLUSIVE DOWNLOADS !!

and finally – find all things, WE LIVE IN PUBLIC at: weliveinpublicthemovie.com !!