DOC: Spencer McCall's "The Institute" (2013)
Spencer McCall's new documentary opens on October 4, 2013 in San Francisco @ Roxie Cinema (3117 16th St., SF)
"David Fincher's 1997 action-oriented drama, The Game, imagined a world-for-hire where acting and real-life were indistinguishable. Spencer McCall's documentary about the Jejune Institute, an alternate-reality game based in downtown San Francisco that attracted thousands of players-slash-participants over a four-year period, aims to blur the boundaries as well. Aimed, perhaps, at people who are already onboard with virtual realities, the movie may be most illuminating for moviegoers living in trepidation of future shock." (KQED)
"To those dark horses with the spirit to look up and see... a recondite family awaits." Welcome to the Jejune Institute, a mind-bending San Francisco phenomenon where 10,000 people became "inducted" without ever quite realizing what they'd signed up for. Was it a cult? Was it an elaborate game? Told from the participants’ perspectives, the film looks over the precipice at an emergent new art form where real world and fictional narratives collide, creating unforeseen and often unsettling consequences. Fusing elements of counter-culture, new religious movements and street art, THE INSTITUTE invites viewers down the rabbit hole into a secret underground world teeming just beneath the surface of everyday life." (The Institute)LINK
Submitted by Matteo Bittanti