Special program "Embodiments of Art"  

Objectified is the second film of director’s design trilogy. Helvetica, which was screened in VDFF in 2008, looked at the worlds of typography and graphic design, and their impact on our visual environment. Expected to be premiered in 2011, the last documentary in this trilogy Urbanized will be about the design of cities, whereas Objectified focuses on industrial design and product design as well as on our relationship with the manufactured objects that surround us. Looking at the creativity at work behind everything from toothbrushes to tech gadgets, the film tells us about the people who re-examine, re-evaluate and re-invent our manufactured environment on a daily basis. It’s about personal expression, identity, consumerism, and sustainability. Through vérité footage and in-depth conversations, the film documents the creative processes of some of the world’s most influential product designers, and looks at how the things they make impact our lives. What can we learn about who we are, and who we want to be, from the objects that we surround ourselves with?

Festivals

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival (2009)
Stranger Than Fiction Documentary Festival, Ireland (2009)
Architecture and Design Film Festival, USA (2009)
Bangkok Design Festival, Thailand (2009)
Bergen International Film Festival, Norway (2009)

Gary Hustwit

Gary Hustwit is an independent filmmaker based in New York and London. He has produced six feature documentaries, including the award-winning film about the band Wilco. Hustwit worked with punk label SST Records in the late-1980s, ran the independent book publishing house Incommunicado Press during the 1990s, was Vice President of the media website Salon.com in 2000, and started the indie DVD label Plexifilm in 2001. Hustwit made his directorial debut with Helvetica, which has been screened in over 200 cities worldwide since its premiere in 2007.

Filmography

Objectified (2009)
Helvetica (2007)