The Facebook era may now have its "Citizen Kane."
"Noah," a Canadian short film playing at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), tells the story of an Ontario teen's breakup with his girlfriend. The hook? The 17-minute movie takes place entirely on Noah's computer and iPhone screens.
WARNING: The film contains strong language and nudity.
Directed by Ryerson University film students Walter Woodman and Patrick Cederberg, the movie features casual porn surfing, Facebook hacks, Skype chats and finally lonely moments on Chatroulete (yes, there are dicks).
It is guaranteed to make you sad, but also prompt questions about what life online is doing to young people today.
"My biggest issue with Facebook is that it's giving people the ability to cultivate a personality for themselves that may not be completely honest," Cederberg told Ryerson Folio.
The filmmakers used that lack of honesty to promote the movie. A fake Twitter account for Noah and fake Facebook profiles for all the main characters were deployed to help spread buzz about the flick.
But not all the Facebook material in the film was fake.
Caitlin McConkey-Pirie, who plays Noah's girlfriend Amy, donated one of her actual Facebook profile pictures to the film.
The movie also makes clever use of real web minutia and memes. Noah sends his girlfriend lolcats, is distracted by the viral game QWOP, chats about playing "COD" (Call of Duty) with his friend "Kanye East" and receives messages with web slang like "cereal" (serious). The details help make the film feel eerily real and of the moment. Even the credits take place within a TextEdit window.
"Noah" is a film that will undoubtedly make many members of the Facebook generation relive the moment they went from "In a relationship" to "Single." Maybe they'll be watching on Facebook. It doesn't get much more meta.
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