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IDFA 2012

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Michael Apted
England
2012
140 min
International Premiere
Festival history

The idea at the core of this celebrated documentary series is this: "Give me a child until he is seven, and I'll give you the man." Every seven years starting in 1964, a new episode has followed the next phase in the lives of 14 British people from various social backgrounds who were born in 1957. Back then, it was assumed that they would all remain in the same social class. Each participant is introduced with a short series of highlights from earlier episodes, giving the viewer a clear impression of his or her social and personal development. And with each new episode, it becomes increasingly clear to what extent the original predictions of this sociological film experiment were correct. The current financial crisis comes up a lot in this latest episode, and politics and age issues are discussed more often than ever before. As the subjects grow older, they reflect increasingly on their involvement in this documentary series. Most of them are unsure about whether they were right to continue participating in the series. But as Nicholas Hitchon says, "It's not an absolute accurate picture of me. But it is a picture of somebody. And that's the value of it."

Credits
Director
Involved TV Channel
    ITV Granada
    ITV Granada
World Sales
    ITV Granada
    ITV Granada
Screening copy
    ITV Granada
    ITV Granada