''Another Body'' is a 2023

documentary A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

film, directed, written, and produced by Sophie Compton and Reuben Hamlyn. It follows a college student who seeks justice after finding

deepfake pornography Deepfake pornography, or simply fake pornography, is a type of synthetic pornography that is created via altering already-existing photographs or video by applying deepfake technology to the images of the participants. The use of deepfake pornogr ...

of herself online. It had its world premiere at

South by Southwest South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and Convention (meeting), conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Texas. It began in 1987 and has conti ...

on March 11, 2023, where it won the Special Jury Award for Innovation in Storytelling. It was released in the United States on October 20, 2023, by

Utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...

and

Willa Willa is a feminine given name. Notable people and characters with the name include: * Willa or Guilla of Provence (died before 924), early medieval Frankish queen * Willa of Tuscany (died 970), queen consort of Berengar II of Italy * Willa Brow ...

, and is scheduled to be released in the United Kingdom on November 24, 2023, by Modern Films.

Plot

A college student seeks justice after finding

of herself online.

Production

As opposed to traditional documentaries where actors are used to recreate scenes, ''Another Body'' deepfaked the subjects in order to protect their identities, while preserving their emotions. Compton said, "It was really important to us that everything we anonymized was just like it happened and we only changed the details that were identifying. We wanted to reflect the exact truth and the spirit of the story."

Release

The film had its world premiere at

2023 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival The 2023 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival took place from March 10 to 19 at several venues in Austin, Texas, as part of the larger South by Southwest annual event. The film program opened with fantasy heist comedy film '' Dungeons & Dragons: ...

on March 11, 2023, where it won the Special Jury Award for Innovation in Storytelling. It also screened at Hot Docs International Film Festival on April 28, 2023. In August 2023,

acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film, to co-distribute the film with

. In September 2023, Modern Films acquired U.K. distribution rights to the film. It was released in the United States on October 20, 2023. It was released in the United Kingdom on November 24, 2023.

Reception

''The Guardian'''s

Peter Bradshaw Peter Nicholas Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire'' magazine. Early life and education Bradshaw was educat ...

gave the film 4/5 stars, writing, "

Germaine Greer Germaine Greer (; born 29 January 1939) is an Australian writer and feminist, regarded as one of the major voices of the second-wave feminism movement in the latter half of the 20th century. Specializing in English and women's literature, she ...

famously said that women have no idea how much men hate them. Her maxim has a new relevance in the light of this terrifying (and enraging) documentary about the explosion of deepfake porn targeting women". Benji Wilson of ''The Daily Telegraph'' also gave it 4/5 stars, calling its use of deepfake technology to conceal its subject's identity "a neat piece of table-turning that highlighted how willingly we can be duped by video footage, as well as the dangers of putting faces to names in public. Sensibly, however, the film didn't lay it on too thick: that would have been an unnecessary gimmick, a distraction from what was already a shocking tale."

Owen Gleiberman Owen Gleiberman (born February 24, 1959) is an American film critic who has been chief film critic for '' Variety'' magazine since May 2016, a title he shares with . Previously, Gleiberman wrote for ''Entertainment Weekly'' from 1990 until 2014. ...

of ''Variety'' called it "a groundbreaking, creepy, fascinating, and important documentary about a phenomenon that's only going to grow in significance: the deepfaking of pornography." Lisa Kennedy of ''The New York Times'' was more critical, writing, "''Another Body'' is most persuasive when experts weigh in on the reality-upending aspects of deepfake technology and image-based sex abuse. That the documentary does this by utilizing some of that technology to protect Taylor and Julia's identities raises its own ethical questions — ones that, even with the filmmakers' compassion and transparency, ''Another Body'' doesn't quite resolve."

Accolades

References

External links

* {{IMDB title, 22464734 2023 films 2023 documentary films American documentary films Documentary films about American pornography Deepfakes Impact Partners films