We Live in Public

We Live In Public is a 2009 documentary film by Ondi Timoner about Internet pioneer Josh Harris, indirectly highlighting the loss of privacy in the Internet age.

WE LIVE IN PUBLIC
Directed byOndi Timoner
Produced byOndi Timoner
Keirda Bahruth
StarringJosh Harris
Edited byOndi Timoner
Joshua Altman
Release date
  • January 19, 2009 (2009-01-19) (Sundance)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$41,711[1]

Synopsis

The film details the experiences of Josh Harris, a dot-com millionaire who founded Pseudo.com, and who became interested in human experiments testing the effects of media and technology on the development of personal identity. To that end, Harris created the art project "Quiet: We Live in Public", which placed more than one hundred artists in a human terrarium under New York City, with a myriad of webcams following and capturing their every move.[2] Each pod was outfitted by artist Jeff Gompertz[3] with cameras and screens to allow every occupant to monitor every other pod.[4] Following that project, Harris broadcast his own life in his loft online for six months using 30 surveillance cameras and 66 microphones, "becoming the rat in his own experiment"[5] and ultimately causing the breakup of himself and his girlfriend.

The film includes commentary from Internet personalities Chris DeWolfe, Jason Calacanis, Douglas Rushkoff, and venture capitalist Fred Wilson, as well as artists and producers involved in the "Quiet: We Live in Public" event such as V. Owen Bush, Jeff Gompertz, Leo Fernekes, Feedbuck, Leo Koenig, Gabriella Latessa, Alex Arcadia, Zeroboy, and Alfredo Martinez.[6]

Awards

We Live in Public was screened six times at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival before being awarded the Grand Jury Prize award in the U.S. documentary category.[7] Timoner is the first director in the Sundance Film Festival's history to win the Grand Jury Prize award twice.[8] The film was also the runner-up for Best Documentary at the 2009 Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.[9]

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an 82% approval rating, based on 51 reviews. The critics consensus says, "This documentary about Josh Harris' surveillance-as-art project exposes the problems of privacy in the internet age and asks provocative questions about the power of ego in a place where everything is on display."[10] Roger Ebert gave the film four stars, his highest rating, and wrote, "This is a remarkable film about a strange and prophetic man."[11]

References
  1. "We Live in Public (2009) - Box Office Mojo".
  2. Wallace, Lewis (2009-01-13). "We Live in Public Tracks Net Spycam Madness | Underwire | Wired.com". Blog.wired.com. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
  3. "Wired 8.11: Steaming Video". Wired.com. 2009-01-04. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
  4. Archived August 28, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  5. Nicole Powers (25 Feb 2010). "Ondi Timoner: We Live In Public". SuicideGirls.com. Retrieved 2010-02-25.
  6. Huhn, Mary (December 27, 1999). "THE MANHATTAN PROJECT: ARTIST JOSH HARRIS CREATES HIS OWN VERSION OF BIG BROTHER FOR THE MILLENNIUM". NY Post. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  7. "We Live In Public". Sundance Film Festival. 2009.
  8. "All these wonderful things: Sundance 2009: WE LIVE IN PUBLIC, ROUGH AUNTIES Take Jury Prizes; Ondi Timoner Makes History as Women Filmmakers Sweep Top Awards". Edendale.typepad.com. 2009-01-25. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
  9. "Final Press Release (July 11th, 2009)" (PDF). Karlovy Vary International Film Festival. July 11, 2009. Retrieved September 11, 2023.
  10. We Live in Public at Rotten Tomatoes
  11. Ebert, Roger (October 14, 2009). "But every day we do, we die a little in private". RogerEbert.com. Retrieved January 31, 2021.
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