Cam2Cam (France - 2008) is the title of the approximately 27-minute short thriller film directed by Davy Sihali (Contractions, Plug&Play) for the screenplay by the director himself in collaboration with Marie Gautier.
As the title itself suggests, Cam2Cam addresses the virtual world and, more specifically, the world pockmarked by evil and perversion, in which serial killers hide behind a nickname to hunt down their chosen victims through webcams and chat rooms. Also discernible in this French short is a subtle demonstration of Internet addiction that distracts those involved from reality.
Almost on tiptoe and with extreme delicacy, Cam2Cam introduces the viewer into the life of Lucy, a girl who receives a message from her friend Emma in a webchat. Capturing the protagonist's attention is the unusual action performed by the girl who begins to undress in front of the webcam. Lucy gets involved in an interesting and titillating erotic game.
Cam2Cam is a film about the dangers of the Internet and as such paints a story that could fit (unfortunately) many people. The synopsis is quite simple and is structured in a straightforward manner without resorting to unnecessary frills that would have diluted the ability to "glue" the viewer in. The appeal of this film lies in its ability to keep the audience's curiosity high although what is presented before the eyes is a simple conversation between two girls via chat and that suddenly mutates into something else. It is a 2008 film that, although it deals with an overused theme, has its own originality in dealing with it.
Cam2Cam points to a typical chat conversation by reproducing its simple sentence structure. The language between the two friends is full of abbreviations and even emoticons, elements that change from being positive to negative as the girls' moods change, accompanying the story in a crescendo of tension.
It is in fact what happens in the chat room for about 14 minutes that sets up a diabolical plan that will be put into action in the second part of the film, when the game switches from the PC to the protagonist's cell phone. In Davy Sihali's short movie, in fact, the virtual and real worlds merge until they almost exchange places and find a point of contact in a well-conceived ending.
What is striking about this film is a well-written story that focuses attention on the various states of terror that are part of a suspenseful show to which pain and humiliation are added. In this thick psychological torture punctuated by intense and shifting emotions, actress Anne Paris proves that she is perfectly up to her role.
The cast includes Anne Paris, Frederic Venant, Pier Gaudin, Maeva Bilian.
Photography is by Cedric Desbonnet.
Cam2Cam was selected in 48 festivals (including Fantastic Fest and Sitges) receiving six awards.
Production of the film was handled by Hakim Sihali, Davy Sihali and Marie Gautier.
The latter also handled the editing of the short film but not only. Recently Marie Gautier also edited the screenplay for the remake of the same name of Cam2Cam, a feature film (USA - 2014) directed by Joel Soisson.
