Ghost World

Colour, 35mm
USA/United Kingdom, 2000, 106 min
Section: Official Selection - Competition

Synopsis

Enid and Rebecca are school friends. The idea of leaving school after their final examinations fills them with euphoria: they will finally be able to stand on their own two feet and find themselves a flat where no-one will tell them what to do. Enid doesn’t pass her exams, however, and enrols in a summer course in order to get a diploma. By chance she makes the acquaintance of a loner, much older Seymour who impresses her with his knowledge of jazz music. Their friendship turns into something more but Enid soon begins to panic. In the meantime Rebecca has found a flat and her one desire is to make it as cosy as possible. Enid realises that this kind of life isn’t for her and she sets off on her own course. The idea for the film was taken from the cult comic-strip story by artist Daniel Glowes, set in a world satirised by a girl who feels like a foreigner in her own environment.

About the director

Terry Zwigoff attracted attention in 1994 with his film Crumb which was awarded the Grand Prix at the Sundance festival. The film is a portrait of controversial author and comic Robert Crumb and his very unusual family. This was preceded by Zwigoff’s film Louie Bluie (1985), a documentary portrait of the legendary bluesman of the 1930s, Howard Armstrong.