New Film Is Entirely Made Of Surveillance Video, you could be one of the protagonists!

There are approximately 30 million surveillance cameras in the United States capturing covert images of average Americans as much as 200 times a day. As they watch in department stores, gas stations, changing rooms and public bathrooms, seemingly no one, nowhere are free from the vigilance of the hidden camera. The award- winning film LOOK, takes you into this exposed environment through several interlacing storylines that are expanded over the course of a week in a random city — with all action experienced through the dispassionate eyes of security cameras.

Many films have tried to reproduce the freaky, claustrophobic vibe (a la 1984) of a watchful society. LOOK gets it right. Writer/director Adam Rifkin shows uncanny skill at creating a new world inside our dirty little real world. Secret liaisons, scary killers, seductive teens, slacker workers-the root of all conspiracy isn’t who or what lies unseen behind the lens, but what is seen through it.

Rifkin balances intertwined plots with humor and horror, skillfully reining it in when it threatens to go too far. He also benefits from a superb ensemble cast that keeps it “real.” The voyeurism is so overpowering that you may forget there are others in the theater, so watch what you do with your hands.

LOOK is directed by Adam Rifkin (THE DARK BACKWARD, NIGHT AT THE GOLDEN EAGLE) based on his original screenplay. The film is produced by Brad Wyman (producer of MONSTER) and acclaimed internet pioneer Barry Schuler with Richard Bishop and Donald Kushner serving as executive producers. The director of photography is Ron Forsythe and the film is set to a score by electronic music innovator BT, known for his pioneering in the trance genre.

Rating: TBD

Running Time: 93 minutes

English Language/Color
Produced by Capture Films

Jury Prize at CineVegas 2007.
Theatrical Release Dates

DECEMBER 14, 2007 starting in New York, Chicago & Los Angeles, expanding January 2008.

Critical Acclaim:

“Guys imagine if Adam Rifkin made CRASH and you would get LOOK. Simply put — IT’S FUCKING AMAZING — Damn you, Rifkin, for putting those thoughts into my head. I just wanted to rock and roll all night and party everyday again with you. Instead, you made me think and think hard. You amused me and then you sucker punched me. And if anyone tells you this is far fetched, just tell them to glance around at the world we live in. A world where the government is becoming George Orwell’s Big Brother and blaming it all on Al Queda. Rifkin — Your film is a masterpiece. I mean it. And it couldn’t be more timely. I’m sure you’ve got me sneaking into your show on tape — I’d say it’s (yeah, you knew this was coming) more than worth a LOOK. And by the way, guys, what would a movie of YOUR private moments be like? Adam Rifkin knows -”

-Luca. AIN’T IT COOL NEWS

“Winner of the CineVegas grand jury prize, this is the sort of talking-point movie that energizes fests…Unexpectedly amusing and inevitably disturbing, pic portrays a series of dramas and lighter incidents strictly through the view of fixed vidcams…”Look” has devised an ingenious visual encyclopedia of spy cams, from the standard types seen in stores to more exotic varieties lodged in ATMs and on bomb-sniffing robots (latter are used to suspenseful and humorous effect)…Talented cast aside, the star of the show is unquestionably cinematographer Ron Forsythe, who aces his assignment to set and light dozens of high-def video monitors.”

-Robert Koehler. VARIETY

“Look raises important questions at a perfect juncture in the culture: What safeguards do we have against perpetual visual intrusion upon our public and private actions? How do we maintain our privacy in a post-9/11 age when public security seems sacrosanct? Have we already become immune to (and apathetic toward) the prying eye of the surveillance camera? What recourse do we have when our financial data, medical histories, and online viewing and purchasing patterns fall into the hands of government, law enforcement agencies, and big business? Since seeing the film, I’ve been haunted by one recurrent scene: the lone car in the mall parking lot, videotaped day and night by a lone security camera looking down from on high. The message implicit in the image: Despite this round-the-clock vigilance, the ever present camera has failed at its chief task - to alert authorities that a woman is hopelessly trapped in the trunk.”

-David Friend. Reporter for VANITY FAIR

“In LOOK, the medium really is the message. Director Adam Rifkin seizes upon the omnipresence of present-day video surveillance to weave a brilliant narrative fugue whose myriad lines intersect and counterpoint in unexpected ways. What starts out as a comedy of manners evolves into unbearably bleak tragedy, and the metamorphosis is both as sudden and logical as everyday life. The film’s title is ironic, for all its characters are united in their obliviousness. Although shot on video, the complex, layered storyline and visual style of LOOK merit big-screen treatment.”
~David McKee CITY LIFE