My Best Friend

My Best Friend is a short mockumentary film about Steve, the middle-aged owner of a software repair shop based on Tottenham Court Road.

It follows as Steve conducts his daily activities in a world of Surveillance Capitalism and Technology Seduction, each situation he finds himself in seeming to end in spite, anger or despair; which he later brings into his weekly court mandated therapy sessions.

It has become so that large systems such as the Surveillance state surround every single moment of our lives and penetrate even the most private of spaces. However, the automation of such systems begs the question, ‘Who’s really watching?’. As most data is collected and analyzed using machine to machine communication, human intervention is not necessary, for the most part. So why fear surveillance at all?

The film explores Steve’s relationship with technology, his one passion, as he chooses to distance himself from the dullness of modern technology. He’s dedicated much of his life to the development of what has become his nightmare. However, through his yearning for fun and companionship, Steve regains his agency as he creates obscure reimaginings of everyday technology as a response to his emotional turmoil.

Each of the 4 parts of the film is punctuated by a therapy session, where we begin to empathize and understand the mind of Steve and perhaps even relate to his idiosyncrasies.

He’s just trying his best!