'In real life I have a nose' is a comedy about heavy topics. Amongst influencers on perfect beach holidays and the chiseled bodies of fit boys & girls, an entirely new genre of art has emerged on social media: the webcomic. Short comics in which the personal life of the illustrator takes center stage and where imperfections are tackled with humor. Topics that are hardly discussed during dinner table conversations like depression, racism, sexism and gender issues. Struggling with his own personal issues, director Stephane Kaas tries to make sense of it all by means of his own comic diary in a disarmingly honest way.
Festival Mental Portugal - official selection
FilmArte Festival Madrid - official selection
Canberra International Mental Health Festival - official selection
OnArt Poland - official selection
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Director Stephane Kaas portrays webcomic artists from around the world. Can social media also provide comfort and connection?
Against the backdrop of a pandemic throwing a spanner in the works, Kaas visits a variety of cartoonists in the Netherlands, Belgium, England, the United States and (online) also war-ravaged Ukraine. For example, Alex Norris (UK) is the person behind Webcomic Name, which he himself describes as a queer comic, in which the punchline is always "Oh No." Where Christina De Witte (BE) draws off her recognizable insecurities as Chrostin, Jackie E. Davis (USA) embraces her inner goofball as Underpants and Overbites - and that's how she draws herself, too, although, "In real life, I have a nose." And while the raw drawings of Emma Jon-Michael Frank (USA) are oppressively self-critical, Renske de Greef (NL) shapes and gives meaning to her perfectionism and gloom in a lighthearted way. Social criticism, mostly about the status of black women in society, comes from Whit Taylor (USA) and the bare drawings of Zhenya Oliinyk (OEK) offer us a confrontational glimpse into a war zone not so very far from here.
Using portraits of the various artists and their work, accompanied by witty voiceovers and animations of his own, Emmy Award-winner Stephane Kaas takes us into this new art form. Many people recognize themselves in the drawings; they draw strength from them and, conversely, the artists draw strength from them. In Real Life I Have a Nose is a comic tale about depressing subjects.
director: Stephane Kaas
camera: Christian Paulussen, Diderik Evers, Silvian Hettich
sound: Diego van Uden, Lily van Leeuwen, Mark Wessner, Kees de Groot, Sam Huisman
edit: Leah Goudsmit
music: Peter Vandrie
sounddesign: Diego van Uden
animations: Iris Frankhuizen, Mirjam Debets
titels: Paul Faassen
grading: Michiel Rummens
executive producer: Zelda Nieuwenhuis
commissioning editor NTR: Diana Tromp
producer: Corine Haitjema