It is not clear from the outset what this relatively short documentary is about. Lale is at a photoshoot, looking stunning in several seemingly uncomfortable poses. Then she’s at a dance studio, watching herself in the mirror while filming herself with a camera on a selfie stick. She’s at home with her boyfriend trying out an app on her mobile, which enables her to try on clothes online. It is not ideal, they agree, because it doesn’t look particularly realistic.
So now we know our protagonist, this sought after German model with African looks, well-spoken and intelligent. It’s a clever way to start the film, making sure the audience connects with this young woman. And at the same time we are intrigued – where is all this leading?
One day Lale gets a request: someone wants to take a photograph of her. But not just one, or even many. He wants to take a multitude of pictures, from every corner, covering every cell of her skin – even the scar on her knee. He will use the material to build a digital Lale – someone who can do everything she does now, without her having to leave the house ever again.
The strength of the film lies in the fact it allows the dilemma and all of its inclinations to arise organically: no forced conversations with, or introductions, by experts. Everything follows from Lale’s own doubts, worries and dreams. It would be great not to have to travel all over the place for exhausting photoshoots, just for that one perfect – albeit retouched – picture (we learn this is the case as her friend flicks through a fashion magazine with photoshopped images of Lale).
She consults an expert, because she wants to know about the legal implications – would she still be able retain agency over her own avatar? Or would it just disappear into the digital jungle where anyone could do just anything with and to her? A troubling thought, especially for Lale’s mother, who’s definitely not charmed by the idea.
There’s no judgment – the filmmaker just shows us a future that has already arrived. We could live an alternative life online – or even many. How much of yourself would you want to put into a digital clone? Would you want to keep track of your avatars? Would you risk your avatar being kidnapped and abused? Would that affect the person you are in your real life, offline?
Uncanny Me shows us no answers, just possibilities and questions. Because again we find ourselves at the start of a road which has not been travelled before. Exciting or troubling developments? Either way, they are brought in a calm, understated yet though provoking documentary, carefully and precisely shot to take the viewer on a personal journey with a universal scope.
Germany, 2022, 45 minutes
Director Katharina Pethke
Producer Christoph Rohrscheidt
Producer Sven Michael Otto
Co-Producer ZDF / 3sat
Broadcaster ZDF / 3sat
Commissioning Editor Udo Bremer
Cinematographer Christoph Rohrscheidt
Editor Daniela Kinateder
Sound Michael Thäle
Sound Design Kuan-Chen Chen
Sound Design Christian Riegel
Animation Vinzent Britz
Script Katharina Pethke
