Mirror, Mirror
on the Wall
Visions du Réel 2020: World Premiere & Grand Angle – Audience Award
“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.
The documentary is not just trying to focus on the absurd aspects of plastic surgery and the world of influencers and followers. It is also getting to the roots of these obsessions without ramming the message down your throat.
Business Doc Europe
Schöberl’s camerawork is deft enough to spot the cracks in Dr Han’s glossy facade.
Screen Daily
A compelling film that questions beauty as a simultaneously essential yet vain element of society in the era of selfies.
filmuforia
Written & Directed by: Sascha Schöberl
Editor: Yu Qian
Producer: Antje Boehmert, Ruby Chen, Ningxin Xie
Music: Tim Stanzel
Executive Producer: Antje Boehmert, Ruby Chen
A co-production of DOCDAYS Productions & CNEX Foundation
Funded by The Whickers Film & TV Funding Award
Produced in association with Channel Hot8. Distribution: PBS International
Length: 85/52 Min
Release Date: 2020
Visions du Réel 2020: World Premiere & Grand Angle – Audience Award
“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.
Written & Directed by: Sascha Schöberl
Editor: Yu Qian
Producer: Antje Boehmert, Ruby Chen, Ningxin Xie
Music: Tim Stanzel
Executive Producer: Antje Boehmert, Ruby Chen
A co-production of DOCDAYS Productions & CNEX Foundation
Funded by The Whickers Film & TV Funding Award
Produced in association with Channel Hot8. Distribution: PBS International
Length: 85/52 Min
Release Date: 2020