Present Perfect

Story

Live streaming has been huge in China since 2016, a market worth billions. In so-called showrooms, self-publicists known as anchors present their everyday lives and are rewarded by the anonymous audience with virtual presents (“bullets”) which can be exchanged for real money. Based in Chicago, Chinese director Shengze Zhu has recorded several hundred hours of these streams that only run in real time and created a fascinating window on the Chinese present. She is less interested in the influencers and stars of the scene than the people for whom live streaming represents a means of communication which enables them to step out of their social isolation. While Zhu largely omits the displayed comments and interactions of the livestream audience in the montage and moves the picture from display to screen, she allocates us the role of passive spectators and at the same time amplifies the performative qualities of the candid self-publicists.https://dokfilmwoche.com/de/project/present-perfect/

Director