You Can Call Me Bill

From Star Trek to actual space travel, 92-year-old William Shatner has done it all. Alexandre O. Philippe (Lynch/Oz, MIFF 2022; 78/52, MIFF 2017) beams us up with this touching tribute.

Whether you know him as Captain Kirk on the starship Enterprise, from his Emmy-winning role as Denny Crane on Boston Legal or as the camp beauty-pageant host of Miss Congeniality, Shatner’s career has doubtless been an eclectic one. And that’s before you get into his role as real-life astronaut aboard the RSS First Step! It’s fair to say there are many sides to this beloved figure, and in Philippe’s revelatory documentary, we get to see them all (and more you probably wouldn’t expect).

This gracious and heartfelt film shows Shatner as a much more multidimensional character than some may give him credit for. Forgoing talking heads and conventional chronology, Philippe allows his subject to muse on a galaxy of topics – not just showbiz, but his family, the environmental crisis, mortality – going boldly into the mind of a man who can honestly say he’s seen the future and lived to talk about it.

“A genuinely astute and captivating look at an actor’s life … As generous with provocative ideas as it is in spirit.” – The Moveable Fest

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Director Alexandre O. Philippe will be in attendance for the screening on Friday 18 August.