Paparazzi

PAPARAZZI is a film by Joost Kraanen about the well-paid black sheep of photo-journalism. The filmmaker followed four different photographers who work in Saint Tropez and Hollywood, among whom the top-paparazzi Daniel Angeli. A separate subject are the photographers that hunt for pictures of the British royalty. The original scheme of the shooting script was soon discarded by Kraanen; he was largely at the mercy of the paparazzi's expansiveness about their latest actions. Initially, that was rather limited. Sporadic self begotten 'tips' and well-filled envelopes finally broke the ice. From a helicopter, the film-maker saw Jack Nicholson through his lens, lay doggo in the woods near Joan Collins' French villa, made shots of Lady Di in Lech and of the British royal family at a pheasant shoot. He took up his position near the entrance of an Alcoholics Anonymous club in search of Liz Taylor's husband. Kraanen made some recordings unaided, without the paparazzi; the borderline between registering and participating became very indistinct at times. Kraanen himself considers the paparazzi a necessary evil and calls his film "a boy's dream."