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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Entertainment
Nick Buckley

‘Distressingly beautiful and disorienting’: the Willem Dafoe film that only one person can see at a time

Willem Dafoe and Loris Gréaud.
Willem Dafoe and Loris Gréaud, whose new film Sculpt is screening at Dark Mofo in Hobart, Tasmania. Photograph: Loris Gréaud

Leanne is first in line on Saturday, standing outside the 19th-century Memorial Uniting Church in Hobart, Tasmania. She’s been waiting in the winter cold since 4.45am, but has no idea what for: “It’s a film?”

The film is Sculpt: Eye of the Duck, starring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Rampling – and only one person gets to watch it at a time. Its director, the French conceptual artist Loris Gréaud, has cut six versions since its 2016 premier at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; less than 500 people saw that first film at Lacma and even fewer have seen the subsequent edits, although you can dig up some clips on the dark web. Dark Mofo – Hobart’s winter festival – is now screening its seventh iteration, with nine tickets made available each day. Only 90 people will get a chance to watch the movie, and the act of seeing it is part of the show.

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