Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

85min or 54min original English, Madarin, German version available

Synopsis

“Mirror, Mirror on the Wall – who’s the fairest of them all? “ In a land of “likes” and beauty-obsessed selfie culture, a talented but troubled surgeon seizes the spotlight with live-streamed plastic surgery performances, chasing animpossible dream of perfection.
What kind of man erects an eight-metre statue of himself outside his own front door?
“Mirror, Mirror On The Wall” is a film about the lofty ambition and lonely inner life of a cosmetic surgeon and self-proclaimed performance artist from China, as well as the women who shape him; the mother whose approval he can never seem to win, his American PA with unhealed wounds of her own, and his remarkably grounded 17-year-old daughter. And then there are the fans. Legions of young women live-streaming every act of their surgeries. This film operates on many levels to bring the depths of selfie culture and the death of privacy into sharp focus.
“Mirror, Mirror On The Wall” is an investigation into our beauty-obsessed world, putting selfie culture on the operating table and calling into question the impact it haves on us all – both as individuals and as a society.

Festivals/awards

2020
Visions du Réel, Nyon

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