FILMOGRAPHY

I saw this 1965 Canadian National Film Board documentary at San Francisco International Film Festival. Leonard Cohen’s disarmingly candid self-scrutiny in the last few minutes is the only thing I’ve seen that rhymes with the self-deconstructing approach of my Caveh Zahedi project (begun in 2005 and currently limbo-lost). In our era of “brand-building” and carefully crafted public personae, Cohen’s coda is surprisingly instructive. “I’m a different style of man than I thought I was,” he says, studying his physique as it’s projected on the screen before him. And, yes, he’s shown in a small hotel bathtub asking himself in voice-over why he’s allowing someone to film him taking a bath.