A Boy Needs a Friend

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In this latest installment of his ongoing video essay, “Final Thoughts”, Steve Reinke ostensibly turns to the subject of friendship. A Boy Needs a Friend delves into its topic head on, in particular investigating the notion of queer Nietzschean friendship. Using his signature dry voice over monologue to tie together an eclectic array of disparate images, ranging from found footage collages to digital animation and cell phone video, Reinke sets forth theories about the identity of Stephen King and Joyce Carol Oates, needle point doodles, the upsides of owning both US and Canadian citizenship, and the ability of corpses to have sex. “Final Thoughts” was begun in 2004 as a life project: it will be complete upon Reinke’s death. It is a collection of video essays, a stream of ongoing thoughts and provocative engagements. Forum Expanded screened The Tiny Ventriloquist: Final Thoughts, Series Two in 2012. A Boy Needs a Friend is part of The genital is Superfluous: Final Thoughts, Series Four (2016).

details

  • Runtime

    23 min
  • Country

    Canada, United States
  • Year of Presentation

    2016
  • Year of Production

    2015
  • Director

    Steve Reinke
  • Cast

  • Production Company

    Reinke, Steve
  • Berlinale Section

    Forum
  • Berlinale Category

Biography Steve Reinke

Steve Reinke, born in 1963 in Eganville, Canada, lives and works in Chicago, USA. He is currently associate professor of Art Theory & Practice at Northwestern University. His work is widely screened and exhibited. Two books of his writing have been published, “Everybody Loves Nothing” and “The Shimmering Beast”.

Filmography Steve Reinke

1989 The Hundred Videos | 1996 Everybody Loves Nothing | 1998 Echo Valley | 1998 How Photographs Are Stored in the Brain | 1998 Incidents of Travel | 1999 Spiritual Animal Kingdom | 1999 Afternoon | 1999 Fireball | 2001 Sad Disco Fantasia | 2001 Amsterdam Camera Vacation | 2002 Anal Masturbation and Object Loss | 2002 J.P | 2004 The Chocolate Factory | 2004 Anthology of American Folk Song | 2005 Ask the Insects | 2005 Ghosts of Gay Porn | 2006 Regarding the Pain of Susan Sontag | 2006 Picnic | 2007 The Mendi | 2007 Election Defeat | 2007 Hobbit Love is the Greatest Love | 2007 My Rectum is not a Grave | 2008 Boy/Analysis: An Abridgement of Melanie Klein's 'Narrative of a Child Analysis' | 2009 Everybody | 2010 Vomit Star | 2010 Disambiguation | 2011 Blood & Cinnamon | 2012 A Day for Cake and Accidents | 2012 The Tiny Ventriloquist: Final Thoughts, Series Two | 2014 Rib Gets in the Way: Final Thoughts, Series Three | 2014 The Natural Look | 2015 A Boy Needs a Friend