in complete world
2008, 53 minutes

Texts/Talks| Images | Video

in complete world is a feature-length documentary made up of street interviews done throughout NYC. Mixing political questions (Are we responsible for the government we get?) with more broadly existential ones (Do you feel you have control over your life?), the film centers on the tension between individual and collective responsibility.

The film can be seen as a user's manual for citizenship in the 21st century, as well as a glimpse into the opinions and self-perceptions of a diverse group of Americans. It is a testament to the people of NYC in this new millennium, who freely offer up thoughtful, provocative and at times tender revelations to a complete stranger, just because she asked.

written, directed, edited: Shelly Silver
interviewers: Jessica Peavy, Naomi White, Samantha Bard, Sophia Peer, Fritzie Brown, Emma Craig
assistant editors: Emma Craig, Tommy Button
post production consultant: Brian Teare
production company: House Productions
funded in part by The John Simon Guggenheim Foundation

for Jim Ovitt


selected screenings
IDFA/International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, Silver Wolf Competition (European Premiere)
MoMA, NY (US Premiere)
As We Were Saying, EFA Project Space, NYC
The End, Warhol Museum, Pittsburgh
Lens Politica Film and Media Festival, Helsinki, Finland
International Ethnographic Film Festival, Quebec, Canada
New Beijing Film Festival, China
Biennale de l'Image en Mouvement, Geneva, Switzerland
Documenta Madrid, Spain
Faraway / Nearby, Argos Centre for Media and Art, Brussels, Belgium
OH LES BEAUX JOURS !Louvain-la-Neuve Biennale, Belgium