Sharing similar territory with Tom DiCillo’s Living in Oblivion and Christopher Guest’s For Your Consideration, writer-director James Ongige’s Behind the Behind the Scenes, is a student-level study into how filmmaking takes a village, and how if you want to live by your ego, then you have to be prepared to die by your ego. Ongige stars as The Director, a sassy film-school cinephile who has nothing but the loftiest dreams destined for silver screens. The only problem is, this guy is a bit of a perfectionist.
“The crew’s issue is that they find it hard to remain motivated and work hard for the director when it seems he only intends to treat them like garbage.”
Oh, he also doesn’t really care if he needs to cut you down to size if it means capturing the magic no one else sees but him. He claims to everyone, including The Sound Person (Michelle Wanjiru), The Actor (Michelle Wanjiru), The Camera Operator (Vanessa Achieng), and The Crew Member (Alvina Muhati), that everything he says and does is for the good of the film. As such, this stalwart crew attempts to put on a brave face. The crew’s issue is that they find it hard to remain motivated and work hard for the director when it seems he only intends to treat them like garbage.
Fast, funny, and clever in its delivery and execution, Behind the Behind the Scenes isn’t so much a mockumentary as it is a cautionary tale. There’s room for everyone and their dreams. That means you should be nice to the people you meet on the way up, because you might meet them again on the way down. And, be grateful to those who help realize your vision, because it’s easy to waste a life on other people’s dreams.
"…isn’t so much mockumentary as it is cautionary tale."
