Fervor on the Red Carpet

Documentary looks at cult of celebrity and awards shows

What do the gritty details of the OJ Simpson trial and the splendor of the red carpet have in common? Aside from being studded with celebrities and paparazzi, it might not seem like much.  However, both share in the fact that they have been captured by Mark Steven Shepherd in his films, Nothing but the Truth and Red Carpet Burn, and are featured in a double-screening at the Jean Cocteau Cinema tonight.

In Nothing but the Truth, which focuses on the OJ Simpson trial, local filmmaker Shepherd distinguishes himself from the press and paparazzi in that he didn’t have an agenda when he was shooting. His only concern was documenting the trial and everything surrounding it and asking the questions that the mainstream media wasn’t asking. “I was letting people talk. I was letting everyone be themselves. It was unfiltered, totally unfiltered. I was getting people to talk about the N-word, about everything. There were people in the film that were just baring their hearts and souls,” Shepherd tells SFR. 

Because of his skill and ability demonstrated in the film to catch what others were missing and handle difficult situations, PBS' Independent Lens hired him to work on the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival. While at the festival, the conceptions of royalty and celebrity in modern times versus their historical significance sparked his interest and inspired him to produce Red Carpet Burn. 

The film is centered on the "why" of the red carpet and its significance in our society, particularly the idea that celebrities have become the new royalty. The red carpet, which used to be rolled out for kings and queens as a symbol of honor in that their feet never had to touch the earth—and to hide the blood of assassination attempts—is now a fixture at film festivals and awards shows.


"Times have changed. We no longer have kings and queens walking the red carpet. Celebrities have become our new royalty, eagerly stepping onto the cropped rouge pile to fill the royal void," Shepherd says in the film.

Shepherd explores this idea further when he tries his hand at creating an instant celebrity by placing an unknown woman in a gown of his own design, made entirely out of strips of film, on the red carpet at both the Oscars and the Cannes Film Festival. 

Nothing but the Truth and Red Carpet Burn have met a fair amount of acclaim and recognition, but are most remarkable in that they manage to possess a surprising amount of humor. Shepherd credits this thread throughout his work to his aim "to make films that people will be entertained by, that will make them laugh and will be thought-provoking at the same time."

  

Nothing but the Truth and Red Carpet Burn
5 pm and 7:45 pm Monday, Jan. 25. $10.
Jean Cocteau Cinema, 418 Montezuma Ave.
466-5528


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