Debut, or, Objects of the Field of Debris as Currently Catalogued
West Coast Premiere with director Julian Castronovo in conversation with Riel Roch-Decter
Saturday, April 5, 4:30 p.m. @ 2220 Arts + Archives (w/Q&A)
Sunday, April 6, 3:00 p.m., @ Now Instant Image Hall (w/Q&A)
Director: Julian Castronovo
United States, 2025, 78 min, DCP
Presented with Eventive
The first feature-length film by Julian Castronovo follows a young filmmaker named Julian Castronovo who discovers a trail of clues related to the disappearance of a skilled art forger known as Fawn Ma.
L.A.-based filmmaker Julian Castronovo’s relentlessly inventive first feature resembles a micro-budget F For Fake by way of Theo Anthony — a sly, self-reflexive study of art forgery and an internet-age gumshoe investigation into the slippery nature of authorship, taking place entirely on a laptop computer. Castronovo himself plays a filmmaker who becomes obsessed with a Chinese art forger (Song Hui) who has disappeared, while he himself is the object of a missing-persons investigation. In an age of essay-film abundance, Castronovo’s film is endlessly layered with intrigue, and gestures toward new possibilities of ultra-lo-fi independent cinema.
Official Selection: 2025 Rotterdam International Film Festival
Cast: Julian Castronovo, Song Hui, Philippa James, Rebecca Benoit
Producer: Julian Castronovo
Writer: Julian Castronovo
Composer: Jules Becker