''Seeking Mavis Beacon'' is a 2024 American

documentary film 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 ...

directed by Jazmin Jones, which premiered at the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023. The festival has acted ...

. The film is distributed by

Neon Neon is a chemical element; it has symbol Ne and atomic number 10. It is the second noble gas in the periodic table. Neon is a colorless, odorless, inert monatomic gas under standard conditions, with approximately two-thirds the density of ...

and is Jones' directorial debut.

Synopsis

Filmmaker Jazmin Jones and her collaborator, Olivia McKayla Ross, search for the real-life woman who served as the face of Mavis Beacon, the fictional instructor in the widely used typing software ''

Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing ''Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing'' is an application software program designed to teach touch typing. Released in late 1987 by The Software Toolworks, the program aimed to enhance users' typing skills through a series of interactive lessons and ...

''. The documentary begins by outlining the history of the software, which was first released in 1987 by The Software Toolworks. The filmmakers explore how Mavis Beacon became an iconic figure despite not being a real person. Through interviews with former employees and industry experts, they confirm that the character was portrayed by Renée L'Espérance, a Haitian-born model who was photographed for the software’s cover but never credited or compensated beyond an initial payment. Jones and Ross attempt to locate L'Espérance, traveling to various locations and speaking with individuals who may have known her. They uncover that she chose to disappear from public life after the software’s success. Their search leads to archival footage and documents, but L'Espérance ultimately declines to participate in the documentary. As their investigation concludes, the filmmakers acknowledge the limits of their search, recognizing that L'Espérance’s absence remains a key part of the story. The documentary ends with reflections on Mavis Beacon’s cultural impact, while leaving L'Espérance’s fate unresolved.

Cast

* Jazmin Renée Jones * Olivia McKayla Ross

Production

''Seeking Mavis Beacon'' was produced by filmmaker Guetty Felin and

, in association with

Field of Vision The visual field is "that portion of space in which objects are visible at the same moment during steady fixation of the gaze in one direction"; in ophthalmology and neurology the emphasis is mostly on the structure inside the visual field and it i ...

. The film was also associate produced by Olivia McKayla Ross.

Release

The film premiered at the

2024 Sundance Film Festival The 2024 Sundance Film Festival took place from January 18 to 28, 2024. The first lineup of competition films was announced on December 6, 2023. Among the highlighted events included the premiere of a documentary about the 1980s rock band Dev ...

in the NEXT category. The film was released by

on August 30, 2024.

Critical reception

Initial reception was generally positive.

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

calculated a

weighted average The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...

of 72 out of 100 based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Murtada Elfadl of ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' wrote that the "format-defying" documentary was "affecting and haunting," noting that the filmmaker explores "a range of philosophical and sociological considerations, from the notion of 'coded bias' to how they personally use technology to communicate and find community."

References

External links

Official website
* {{IMDb title, 18325446 2024 films 2024 documentary films American documentary films 2020s American films Neon (company) films