Britney Baby, One More Time

Colour, 35mm
U.S.A., France, The Netherlands, 2002, 81 min
Section: Forum of Independents

Synopsis

A crazy story about a desperate film director who will do anything to get enough money to make his next film. The film director, Dude Schmitz (played by Mark Borchardt, one of the stars in American Movie by Chris Smith, screened in Karlovy Vary in 2000), gets an opportunity to earn some money when a local TV station hires him to do an interview with Britney Spears, the teenage pop idol. After an indiscreet question he is kicked out by the star’s manager, but he then meets a transvestite (and this is based on a true story) who won the Britney Spears look-alike contest. Schmitz decides to do a fake interview with him instead. The transvestite Robert Stevens agrees, if they promise to introduce him to the real Britney. The film is a clever satire on the media and independent filmmaking.

About the director

Ludi Boeken (Amsterdam) studied film in London. He then became a war correspondent for VARA TV and the BBC. He established Belbo Film in England, Holland and France and in 1995 Raphael Films in the USA. His projects include the production of Robert Altman’s Vincent and Theo (1990) and Radu Mihaleanu’s Train de vie (1999). Britney Baby – One More Time is his debut as a feature director.