Sam Klemke’s Time Machine
Wednesday, March 16, 2016 – 7:30pm
Australia 2015. Dir: Matthew Bate. 90 min. Blu-ray Disc
In 1977, at the age of 19, Colorado native Sam Klemke used his Super-8 camera to record the first of his annual “personal status reports,” frank and unwaveringly honest self-portraits that would continue for the next 35 years. In front of our eyes, Klemke morphs from a self-important teenager “destined for greatness” into a bewildered and floundering twentysomething still living in his parents’ basement. From a self-loathing 30-year-old struggling with never-realized goals, unemployment, problems with women, and binge eating, and onwards into his more philosophical 50s, Klemke’s optimism and indomitable sense of humour remain intact. Throughout, director Matthew Bate cleverly parallels Klemke’s story with that of the 1977 Voyager 1 space launch and its onboard Golden Record, a rose-tinted portrait of humanity’s greatest achievements. “An existential message in a bottle … An adventuresome, unclassifiable feature” (Dennis Harvey, Variety).
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Post-screening discussion with Dr. Rene Weideman, a registered psychologist in private practice and a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Weideman worked previously as the Coordinator of the Outpatient Psychiatry Program at Vancouver General Hospital and as the Director of the Clinical Psychology Centre at Simon Fraser University.
Moderated by Dr. Harry Karlinsky, Clinical Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of British Columbia.
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