Categorized as a documentary by the filmmakers and programmers of SXSW, Liza Mandelup’s Caterpillar has a lucid structure that feels like a loose, improvised sci-fi narrative exploring the extremes that subject Raymond “David” Taylor will go to stand out just as he’s about to turn 50. Going in cold, one might believe it to be a lo-fi mumblecore movie with occasional moments of cringe and perverse humor, but it supposedly happened. Rather than framing the film as a cautionary medical tale, it remains a grounded, sympathetic portrait of David and his quest for beauty.
Queer and without a partner, he’s dancing in the dark, wishing for something more out of life, telling us “people don’t understand the struggle out here––I’m my own worst enemy.” Despite being a handsome guy who looks ten years younger than he is, David still longs to be light-skinned. While this...
Queer and without a partner, he’s dancing in the dark, wishing for something more out of life, telling us “people don’t understand the struggle out here––I’m my own worst enemy.” Despite being a handsome guy who looks ten years younger than he is, David still longs to be light-skinned. While this...
- 3/23/2023
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
Filmmaker Liza Mandelup can make the promise of social media feel like a dream. In her feature debut, “Jawline,” she toggled back and forth between an established social media content farmhouse and a 14-year-old Tennessee upstart who struggles valiantly at breaking onto the live stream scene, both narratives reflecting and refracting each other. Mandelup is patently aware of the dazzling prize of our new and ever-changing social media economy, not only how it’s shaping our conceptions of self but also of labor.
Continue reading ‘Caterpillar’ Review: Liza Mandelup’s Engaging New Doc Opens Our Eyes To The Endless Struggle To Be Seen [SXSW] at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘Caterpillar’ Review: Liza Mandelup’s Engaging New Doc Opens Our Eyes To The Endless Struggle To Be Seen [SXSW] at The Playlist.
- 3/17/2023
- by Kyle Turner
- The Playlist
David desperately wishes to change the color of his eyes. Thanks to an experimental procedure peddled by an Indian company called BrightOcular, his fantasy of physical transformation might actually manifest. Documentary filmmaker Liza Mandelup (who made our 25 New Faces of Film list in 2017) follows David on this journey in her sophomore feature Caterpillar, as he meets other BrightOcular patients in India and grapples with the not-so-subtle side effects of these implants. Unsurprisingly, many of these patients are Western people of color who’ve been overwhelmed with images of European features (which ostensibly represent the pinnacle of physical perfection) for […]
The post “Sometimes You Just Get Incredible Access”: Liza Mandelup on Caterpillar first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Sometimes You Just Get Incredible Access”: Liza Mandelup on Caterpillar first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 3/16/2023
- by Natalia Keogan
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
David desperately wishes to change the color of his eyes. Thanks to an experimental procedure peddled by an Indian company called BrightOcular, his fantasy of physical transformation might actually manifest. Documentary filmmaker Liza Mandelup (who made our 25 New Faces of Film list in 2017) follows David on this journey in her sophomore feature Caterpillar, as he meets other BrightOcular patients in India and grapples with the not-so-subtle side effects of these implants. Unsurprisingly, many of these patients are Western people of color who’ve been overwhelmed with images of European features (which ostensibly represent the pinnacle of physical perfection) for […]
The post “Sometimes You Just Get Incredible Access”: Liza Mandelup on Caterpillar first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Sometimes You Just Get Incredible Access”: Liza Mandelup on Caterpillar first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 3/16/2023
- by Natalia Keogan
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
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