Cameraperson

Name: Cameraperson
Genre: Documentary
Released: September 9, 2016
Duration: 102 min
Rating: 89

2016

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 21 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Ratings

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7.0

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7.0	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 13 Ratings

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Cameraperson

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Movie Details & Credits

Janus Films | Release Date: September 9, 2016 | Not Rated

Summary: A boxing match in Brooklyn; life in postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina; the daily routine of a Nigerian midwife; an intimate family moment at home: these scenes and others are woven into Cameraperson, a tapestry of footage collected over the twenty-five-year career of documentary cinematographer Kirsten Johnson. Through a series of episodicA boxing match in Brooklyn; life in postwar Bosnia and Herzegovina; the daily routine of a Nigerian midwife; an intimate family moment at home: these scenes and others are woven into Cameraperson, a tapestry of footage collected over the twenty-five-year career of documentary cinematographer Kirsten Johnson. Through a series of episodic juxtapositions, Johnson explores the relationships between image makers and their subjects, the tension between the objectivity and intervention of the camera, and the complex interaction of unfiltered reality and crafted narrative. A hybrid work that combines documentary, autobiography, and ethical inquiry, Cameraperson is both a moving glimpse into one filmmaker’s personal journey and a thoughtful examination of what it means to train a camera on the world. [Janus Films]… Expand

Director: Kirsten Johnson

Genre(s): Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 102 min

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Critic Reviews

100

John Semley

Dec 15, 2016

Film, not film, whatever it is, Cameraperson plays like a study not only of cinema itself, but a warm, welcome reminder that there is (ideally) an intelligence, and maybe even a bit of grace, behind the moving images that wedge themselves in our memory; that they are the handiwork of a living, thinking, feeling, sneezing human being, someone who is both camera and person. Read full review

100

A.O. Scott

Sep 8, 2016

Cameraperson isn’t a work of journalism or advocacy. It’s a scrapbook, a found poem assembled out of scraps and snippets of truth. And it is, above all, an act of showing rather than telling. Read full review

100

Ann Hornaday

Oct 13, 2016

In a mesmerizing series of images, encounters and delicate juxtapositions, Cameraperson testifies to a world in which it would be clear to see that we’re all connected, if only we took the time to look at one another with reverence and simply listen. Read full review

Nick Schager

Aug 28, 2016

Without narration or a conventional storyline, it’s a uniquely insightful memoir-cum-critical-treatise. Read full review

Time Out London Cath Clarke

Jan 23, 2017

Cameraperson’ is a thoughtful examination of the role of the documentary-maker, showing us how it feels to be that person behind the camera. Read full review

Bill Goodykoontz

Jan 6, 2017

It’s a uniquely affecting experience, and a uniquely affecting film. Cameraperson shows us the power of image as a tool of recording life, but also finds reasons that even in the worst situations, it’s still worth living. Read full review

Mark Feeney

Sep 15, 2016

The film shifts back and forth in time. It works like memory that way, but the memories are Johnson’s, not the viewer’s, which makes the absence of some discernible organizing principle a real drawback. Read full review

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User Reviews

bubblegumtate17

Jan 21, 2017

This film is a dramatic rearrangement of a life abroad and at home. It achieve its goals to stunning effect. All claims of egomania or narcissism are unfounded at best and slanderous at worst. See this film if you have any interest at all in cinema.

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KeithDow

Jan 14, 2017

This montage of B-roll flirts with self-indulgence while simultaneously saying less about the person behind the camera than the project surely intended.

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iCronic

Aug 9, 2017

I liked the compilation style of Cameraperson. Gets an honorable mention in my Top 10 Documentaries of 2016 list

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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