Casting About

Synopsis: CASTING ABOUT is a lyrical, feature documentary that explores the captivating experience of casting actors. From the point of view of a filmmaker, we see and hear many of the 350 actresses who audition for three roles in a dramatic film. CASTING ABOUT includes footage from audition sessions held in Berlin, Boston, Chicago, London, and Los Angeles - weaving together actor interviews, monologues, and scene work to create an impressionistic collage of the casting experience. In late 2000, filmmaker Barry J. Hershey set out to cast actresses for a dramatic film that he had co-written and intended to direct. The plan was to incorporate some of the casting footage into the fiction film, an idea arising from Hershey's first experience with casting at film school more than 20 years earlier. After reviewing the more than 70 hours of casting tapes, a decision was made to shape this rich material into a film of its own. The viewer sits in the filmmaker's seat, watching the actors at work and learning about their lives, vulnerabilities, fears and dreams. The film explores the boundaries between fiction and reality - and the dialectic between voyeurism and intimacy. The film presents footage of 184 actresses - many of whom perform monologues from the work of renowned contemporary playwrights such as Eric Bogosian, David Hare, Richard LaGravenese, Susan Miller, Keith Reddin, Nina Shengold, and Alfred Uhry. CASTING ABOUT explores the casting process while also celebrating the demanding craft of acting.     Source: Kino International