Catfish (film)
| Catfish | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by |
Henry Joost Ariel Schulman |
| Produced by |
Andrew Jarecki Marc Smerling Henry Joost Ariel Schulman |
| Starring |
Nev Schulman Henry Joost Ariel Schulman |
| Cinematography | Henry Joost Ariel Schulman Nev Schulman |
| Edited by | Zachary Stuart-Pontier |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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87 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $3,479,614 |
Catfish is a 2010 American documentary film directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, involving a young man, Nev, being filmed by his brother and friend, co-directors Ariel and Henry, as he builds a romantic relationship with a young woman on the social networking website Facebook. The film was a critical and commercial success. It led to an MTV reality TV series, Catfish: The TV Show.
In the film, the husband of the "catfish", Vince, relays a story of how when live cod were shipped to Asia from North America, the fish's inactivity in their tanks resulted in only mushy flesh reaching the destination. However, fishermen found that putting catfish in the tanks with the cod kept them active, and thus ensured the quality of the fish. Vince made an analogy of how there are people in everyone's lives who keep each other active, always on their toes and always thinking, suggesting that people should always be alert while socializing through the internet.
Young photographer Yaniv "Nev" Schulman lives with his brother Ariel in New York City. Abby Pierce, an 8-year-old child prodigy artist in rural Ishpeming, Michigan, sends Nev a painting of one of his photos. They become Facebook friends, which broadens to include Abby's family: including her mother, Angela (Wesselman); Angela's husband Vince (she uses a photo of Stephen Fogarty); and Abby's attractive older half-sister Megan, who lives in Gladstone, Michigan.
For a documentary, Ariel and Henry Joost film Nev as he begins an online relationship with Megan. She sends him MP3s of song covers she performs for him, but Nev discovers that they are all taken from performances on YouTube. He later finds evidence that Angela and Abby have lied about other details of Abby's art career. Ariel urges Nev to continue the relationship for the documentary, although Nev seems reluctant to continue. The siblings decide to travel to Michigan in order to make an impromptu appearance at the Pierces' house and confront Megan directly. As they arrive at the house, Angela takes some time to answer the door, but is welcoming and seems happy to finally meet Nev in person. She also tells him that she has recently begun chemotherapy for uterine cancer. After leaving multiple messages while trying to call Megan, she drives Nev and Ariel to see Abby herself. While talking with Abby and her friend alone, Nev learns that Abby never sees her sister and rarely paints.
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