Point and Shoot 2014

American Matthew VanDyke made headlines when he was found by international reporters amongst prisoners of war liberated from a Gaddafi prison. He is the fascinating and very willing subject of this latest study in partisan commitment from the ever astute Marshall Curry (If a Tree Falls). An obsessive self-documenter, VanDyke had long filmed his solo travels throughout the Middle East. He kept his camera turning when he joined his Libyan friends in their revolution. Curry’s film combines this often startling footage with searching interviews with the super-smart and self-aware VanDyke. (His sorely tested mother and girlfriend also appear.) Acknowledging the head-turning impact of Lawrence of Arabia and his pressing need to be the hero of his own life’s story, VanDyke fully abets Curry’s enquiry into the role of the camera in determining – rather than merely recording – the on-screen action. “[It is] as much about self-definition, machismo, technological evolution and photography-as-means-of-immortality as it is about a guy with as much courage as he has tics, demons and crazy fixations.” — John Anderson, Indiewire