Blast 'Em

(Joseph Blasioli & Egidio Coccimiglio, USA, 1992)

Blast 'Em is a documentary on paparazzi celebrity photographers – the kind of stuff which is nightly fare in the era of reality TV shows on cable, but had novelty in its day.

Directed in a deliberately chaotic, cinéma-vérité manner by Joseph Blasioli and Egidio Coccimiglio, this portrait concentrates mainly on one practitioner: fast talking Victor Malafonte, whose snaps appear in Who magazine, among others.

We follow Malafonte on his rounds as he outguesses the stars, jostles angrily in the crush of his competitors, and barks his way into the best position for a shot – and woe to any ordinary fan who gets in his way.

Around this bizarre, unreal and often hilarious world, the filmmakers weave a little essay on media fame and showbusiness mobility – taking in an obsessive Madonna watcher, as well as Sally Kirkland as a painfully self– conscious public performer.

© Adrian Martin September 1993