Educational Media Reviews Online

This documentary film by Sunny Bergman explores the nature of authenticity. What makes an experience real? Are some experiences more real than others? An entire economy of experience has been built around this desire of Westerners for authenticity, in which ordinary events are turned into memorable experiences. In this film Bergman looks for the truth behind the carefully constructed images.

There is the “tour the city with a homeless guide” in which the guide is no longer homeless; an adventurer/explorer who stages experiences for photographs by sponsors; a musician from West Africa who prefers reggae, even though he is often pushed into playing ‘authentic’ traditional music; a woman who leaves home to circle the globe solo on her sailboat, only to come to the conclusion that it is her friends who give her life importance; and some young singing contest winners juxtaposed with their wax images in Madame Tussaud’s. And finally there is Sunny herself, who admits to using the media to validate her own ideas, and presenting a construct of her own life to make her point.

This fascinating video takes place in and around Amsterdam, and is in Dutch with English subtitles. This film is recommended for public or academic libraries, and would be of interest to students of history, sociology, or communications.