Look Again. Jan 19 – 29, 2012 Park City, Utah

ME @ THE ZOO tells the fascinating modern tale of Chris Crocker, a video blogger from a small town in Tennessee. Part of the first generation that came of age under constant self-surveillance, he was raised on the Internet, and his online videos—including his infamous YouTube declaration “Leave Britney Alone!”—have been viewed hundreds of millions of times. The film weaves a tapestry of Web comments and response videos with reactions from Crocker fans and haters to map the controversial rise of an Internet folk hero.

This unconventional documentary excavates a personal story that was written on the Internet and, in the process, uncovers an identity indistinguishable from technology. In this exploration of the way video sharing and social platforms shape the way we tell our stories and mediate our lives, filmmakers Chris Moukarbel and Valerie Veatch utilize the aesthetic imbedded in the story to craft a scintillating portrait of a young man who may be a star, a fad, or a harbinger of what lies ahead. - T.G.

Jack Turner
jt@wearethezoo.net
1 State Street 23rd Floor
New York, NY 10013
United States

Chris Moukarbel graduated from Yale’s MFA program in 2006. He directed a short film called World Trade Center that got international attention by upstaging the release of Oliver Stone’s feature film. It went viral on YouTube, prompting a highly publicized national debate about intellectual property rights on the Web. Moukarbel’s videos screen in art galleries around the world. ME @THE ZOO_ is his first feature documentary. Valerie Veatch was born in Seattle in 1985 and graduated from The New School in 2007 with a degree in critical theory and media studies. Her short film, Revolution in Three Acts, (2006) examines methods of social and political agitating. ME @THE ZOO_ is her first feature film.