FilmFestivals.com - Cannes 2000

Arecurring theme in this year's festival, which has seen the American contingent returning cautiously to the Croisette, is celebrity, as seen in western entries such as Denys Arcand's Stardom and John Waters' Cecil B Demented. Making up a trio with these two is Griffin Dunne's Famous, a low-budget comedy shot vérité-style on the streets of New York.

The director stars, albeit largely off-camera, as deadly serious documentary-maker Andrew, who is trying to make a film about an actress named Lisa (Laura Kirk) who he thinks is about to enjoy her metaphorical 15 minutes in the spotlight. Following Lisa on her usual beat, Andrew vicariously explores her world, introducing us to her best friend Tate (Nat De Wolf) and boyfriend (Daniel London).

Filmed using a digital camera, the film aimed to capture the instant impact of a real documentary. And if the two leads seem especially comfortable, it's because they scripted the film themselves, drawing on their own acting traumas. Says Kirk: "I had a demo reel which consisted of a Dr Pepper commercial, a re-enactment and some inexplicable Japanese thing where I played an android. And I took it with me on my first trip to Los Angeles intent on showing it around. A friend of mine saw it and fortunately convinced me not to show it. Then I came back to New York and began joking around about how silly it was that the demo reel represented my body of work. I remember joking with a friend about how funny it would be to sit on stools and talk about the work on that reel seriously."

Produced by indie breakthrough Dolly Hall (High Art, Eye Of God), the film's self-reflexive agenda is stretched further by the fact that it marks the producing debut of Oscar-winning actress Mira Sorvino. Sorvino, however, plays down suggestions that the film is only of interest to struggling thesps. "Yes, Famous is about actors," she says. "But I think it's also about everybody who has goals and dreams and pins all of their hopes for happiness and fulfilment on those goals."

Damon Wise