For further information please download the film sheet (PDF).
Kate Lyn Sheil is a young New York actress on the cusp of true fame. Christine Chubbuck was a 29-year-old news reporter, her own fame a result of her decision to shoot herself live on air in July 1974. Kate is to play Christine in a film and goes to Sarasota, Florida to research the part. She scans microfiches for articles about the incident, speaks to a local historian, has a wig fitted, visits the store where Christine once bought a gun. She talks to the people she meets, she talks to herself, it’s hard playing someone who’s no longer there, it’s hard to grasp the ungraspable. Christine’s problems are now problems for Kate too. She begins to wander around Sarasota in character: brown contact lenses, a shooting range, the swirling sea, more questions. Reconstruction and preparation soon run in parallel and Kate and Christine’s frustrations begin to merge, a film and its making, hand in hand. But whoever said that Kate was just playing Christine anyway? Perhaps she’s playing herself too, an actor playing an actor playing a role, layer upon layer upon layer. And let’s not forgot the other big mystery: we know how the story ends, but how exactly will it be performed? (James Lattimer)
Production: 4th Row Films, New York; Faliro House Productions, Athens
Camera: Sean Price Williams
Cast: Kate Lyn Sheil
Format: DCP 1:1.78 (16:9), Colour
Running time: 113 min
Language: English
