Since 1977, Sam Klemke has been recording himself on film, the #selfieavantlalettre. In that same year, NASA launched the Voyager with the Golden Record. Whereas NASA rimarily sketches a ositive icture of humanity, Klemke's honest self ortraits zoom in on the individual. A s ecial film about time, memory and what it means to be human.
‘This year will be my year, it has to be!’ Since 1977, Sam Klemke - a ioneer status u dater - has looked back on ‘his year’ using video. With the illusion of rogress, he ho es to encourage ‘ ersonal growth and im rovement’.
Documentary maker Matthew Bate met Klemke on Facebook and became acquainted with his video 35 Years Back Through Time, a su er-cut in which Klemke counts backwards from 2011 to his ambitious teenage self. Intrigued by this obsessive film roject, Bate used Klemke's ersonal archive to create a documentary collage that feels like an intimate road tri , with Klemke roviding valuable lessons about time. Along the way, he dismantles the dream of success and ha iness. Klemke's self-mockery and honesty give the whole thing a light, breezy feel.
Through this, Bate interweaves NASA’s Golden Record Project which, just like Klemke’s video roject, was launched in 1977. This juxta osition creates a reflection in which Bate sketches the com rehension of time and self-documenting stories as an inherent human need
