ART HISTORY
Art History
Joe Swanberg, 2011
Catalog No.: FTF-034
Length: 74 minutes
Sam (Joe Swanberg) has feelings for Juliette (Josephine Decker), the lead actress in a sexually explicit drama centered on a couple's one night stand. He must maintain a professional relationship while directing her. All is going well until Juliette and her co-star Eric (Kent Osborne) develop feelings for each other that they explore off-camera. Sam is happy that his actors have such great chemistry, but simultaneously feels jealous. Juliette senses Sam's shifting moods and does her best to show him affection, but his own inner struggles threaten to derail the production.
Swanberg describes Art History as being both the most beautiful and the most disgusting-looking movie he has ever made. Set entirely in one location over the course of a few days, ART HISTORY uses long static takes and minimal lighting to create a mood of claustrophobia and mystery. Despite the small space they're living and working in, the characters often seem unaware of one another through their individual experiences.
Directed by Joe Swanberg
Written by Josephine Decker, Kent Osborne and Joe Swanberg
Produced by Kent Osborne and Joe Swanberg
Cinematography by Joe Swanberg and Adam Wingard
Starring: Josephine Decker, Joe Swanberg, Kent Osborne, Adam Wingard and Kris Swanberg
Festivals: Berlin, Uruguay and Maryland
PURCHASE
WATCH THE FILM
PRESS
"Few films turn the camera on the filmmaking process as bluntly or as harshly."
-Richard Brody, The New Yorker
Another intriguing examination of the human condition courtesy of iconoclastic Mr. Swanberg!
-Kam Williams, NewsBlaze
“What's most fascinating about Swanberg’s lived-in aesthetic is that he’s so young, so confident of the onscreen interplay of real-seeming characters.”
-Gabe Toro, Indiewire
“Art History stands out as one of his most visually and conceptually accomplished experiments.”
- Jesse Cataldo, Slant Magazine
"Future art historians may use Joe Swanberg's latest to illustrate the paucity of ideas and means in the 2010s."
-Joe Weissberg, Variety
"A complex and unsettling examination of the creative process"
-Christopher Bourne, Twitch Film