project 2: movie synopsis

I Am Here is a movie which walks in the footsteps of Dziga Vortov's, Man With A Movie Camera. In an quasi-documentary treatment, I Am Here simultaneously follows 12 hours in the lives of two young women as they encounter and interact with 21st century technology in their respective environments. The young women are college students--one attends Portland State University in the USA, the other living and studying in a rural Afghanistan village.

Both young women go about the activities of their daily lives. Tending to personal hygiene, cooking, commuting to and from school as well as work and social activities. Their cultural differences are made clear to the viewer by the multi-viewpoint perspective of the Portland woman navigating her life in a western city, while the Afghan woman traverses through a less developed and war torn plateau. Cultural differences are contrasted as the women interact with their everyday societies and engage in their respective personal norms.

This film is presented without dialogue or narration. The stories are told through use of dual images of each life followed throughout a period of 12 hours. The viewer may form their own understanding of each woman, and the universal connections between them.

Project Group: Kirk Rea, Marissa Lauer and Tina Pfeiffer

project 2: movie synopsis