jean-luc rabideau
15-Jan-2021
An avant-garde self portrait following a young woman through her daily life as her own muse. Jessie Rabideau directs and stars in “jean-luc rabideau” (co-directed by Leland Bankowski), which offers a rare combination of banality and free-spiritedness carried by Rabideau’s striking screen presence (playing herself) as she moves through a series of colorful tableaus. We open on a nearly eight minute single take of Jessie taking provocative photos of herself on her laptop. The purpose of the photographs, like much of the film, is not communicated in explicit terms. Later she makes lemonade, takes a bath, or practices her French, and it all adds up to exactly what it is. Rabideau possesses a rare ability to hold one’s attention while doing mundane activities, though for much of the film, she’s performing: dancing, posing, gallivanting in the park, showing off her colorful getups. There’s a refreshing vulnerability at play, a lack of anxiety or self-consciousness, and a comfortability with nudity. -KA. Directed by Jessie Rabideau & Leland Bankowski. Starring Jessie Rabideau. Story Consultant: Sean Smith. Cinematography by Jessie Rabideau, Kyle Helf. Additional Cinematography by Nathan Owen, Elizabeth Godar, Stef Estep-Gozalo. Production Designer (Birthday Party): Elizabeth Godar.