[Editor’s Note: This review was written by NYConvergence’s Craig Sender, former employee at a PR firm that represented the film’s subject, Josh Harris.]
I’m sure Josh Harris has been called many things over the course of his career – genius, visionary, mogul, artist, pioneer, etc. etc. After watching Ondi Timoner‘s documentary, “We Live in Public” at the NY Tech Meetup last night at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center, other words come to mind – demented, immature, irresponsible, and just plain crazy.
However, no matter what one’s personal opinion is of Harris, the former founder of Pseudo Networks, one cannot deny that “We Live in Public” is film making at its finest. In what must have been a labor of love, Timoner edited 5,000 hours of footage into a riveting 88-minutes, completely immersing herself into Harris’ world, from an underground bunker in Soho for a month or at Harris’ apple farm. There were many cringe-worthy moments in the film, most involving attempted forced sexual acts in the bunker and in Harris’ fully-wired loft apartment with his girlfriend. But for over an hour, my eyes were glued to the screen and my backside on the edge of my seat, which really is all we ask when handing over $12 to see a movie.
Whether you’re a techie or just looking to be entertained, I say go see this movie and judge for yourself. The film has yet to pick up distribution, despite taking Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize. For more information, go to http://www.weliveinpublicthemovie.com/.