No Maps for These Territories
Encyclopedia
No Maps for These Territories is an independent documentary film
made by Mark Neale
focusing on the speculative fiction author William Gibson
. It features appearances by Jack Womack
, Bruce Sterling
, Bono
, and The Edge
and was released by Docurama. The film had its world premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival
in October 2000.
The film was shot on location in the United States, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
, drugs and drug culture, the effect of Neuromancer on his fans and his later writing career, and the normalisation of technology (that is, the ways in which the use of technology has been justified to the point that it is invisible, a concept similar to the "sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" concept of Arthur C. Clarke
.) The documentary is extremely free-flowing and also highly personal, in that it allows one to gain an close understanding of both the thought processes and internal psychological triggers of William Gibson. Occasionally prompted by an unseen driver figure (female in voice) and sometimes communicating with outside figures (specifically, Jack Womack and Bono, who was also being filmed at the time, the final product being superimposed
on an electronic billboard
).
In the film, while recounting his childhood near Conway, South Carolina
, Gibson reflects on his early works, saying:
In The End of Celluloid
(2004), historian of digital art Matt Hanson
argues that No Maps was a film that could not have been made before the advent of digital technology.
in October 2000 with the United States premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival
in January 2001. The documentary subsequently hit the independent film festival circuit, with screenings at South by Southwest
in Austin, Texas (March 2001), Grauman's Egyptian Theatre
in Los Angeles (March 2001); onedotzero
at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (May 2001), the Carlton Arts Festival in São Paulo (June 2001), the Oldenburg International Film Festival in Germany (September 2001), and at onedotzero Japan (November 2001).
The film critics of the New Times LA
and the Riverfront Times
of St. Louis, Missouri recognised the film as the best documentary of 2001, with the latter commenting "Gibson's writing is often tedious, but the man proves articulate and compelling, especially when seated in the back of a car that appears to be driving across different dimensions." Postcyberpunk novelist Cory Doctorow
, reviewing the film for Wired magazine, concluded "Nostalgic without being maudlin, No Maps for These Territories is a one-man show with revelations every minute". Reviewer Merle Bertrand of Film Threat
was unenthused by the premise of the film, but found that "its rapid-fire editing, mystically brooding yet ironic atmosphere, and eerie soundtrack keeps it from ever becoming dull" despite its repetitive treatment of the subject matter, and ultimately hailed the documentary as "a brilliant and intelligent viewing experience".
In the run-up to the release of Gibson's ninth novel Spook Country
in summer 2007, publisher Penguin Books
announced their intent to screen the "fine and strange" documentary in the virtual world Second Life
.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
made by Mark Neale
Mark Neale
Mark Neale is a British documentarian and film director based in Los Angeles, California. His best known work is the 1999 documentary No Maps for These Territories, which profiled cyberpunk author William Gibson. Prior to No Maps, Neale had been an acclaimed music video director, making videos for...
focusing on the speculative fiction author William Gibson
William Gibson
William Gibson is an American-Canadian science fiction author.William Gibson may also refer to:-Association football:*Will Gibson , Scottish footballer...
. It features appearances by Jack Womack
Jack Womack
Jack Womack is an American author of fiction and speculative fiction. He lives in New York City with his wife and daughter, and works as a publicity manager for the Orbit and Yen imprints of Hachette Book Group USA....
, Bruce Sterling
Bruce Sterling
Michael Bruce Sterling is an American science fiction author, best known for his novels and his work on the Mirrorshades anthology, which helped define the cyberpunk genre.-Writings:...
, Bono
Bono
Paul David Hewson , most commonly known by his stage name Bono , is an Irish singer, musician, and humanitarian best known for being the main vocalist of the Dublin-based rock band U2. Bono was born and raised in Dublin, Ireland, and attended Mount Temple Comprehensive School where he met his...
, and The Edge
The Edge
David Howell Evans , more widely known by his stage name The Edge , is a musician best known as the guitarist, backing vocalist, and keyboardist of the Irish rock band U2. A member of the group since its inception, he has recorded 12 studio albums with the band and has released one solo record...
and was released by Docurama. The film had its world premiere at the Vancouver International Film Festival
Vancouver International Film Festival
The Vancouver International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for two weeks in late September and early October...
in October 2000.
Background and premise
At the time of the project's conception, Gibson – an American exile in Vancouver, Canada – was seen as a reclusive figure, who thought the didactic inclination in novelists anathema and was not prone to divulging much in the way of personal information in interviews and retrospectives. The documentary was intended to assuage the dearth of knowledge of Gibson's perspectives on self, career and culture and to uncover the hitherto obscured depths of the writer.The film was shot on location in the United States, Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom.
Content
During the documentary Gibson muses both on his past and the circumstances that led him to write what he wrote, as well as our present which, accordingly, is starting to resemble in many particulars the futures he has variously penned. He speculates on topics as wide-ranging as post-human society and mechanics, nanotechnologyNanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
, drugs and drug culture, the effect of Neuromancer on his fans and his later writing career, and the normalisation of technology (that is, the ways in which the use of technology has been justified to the point that it is invisible, a concept similar to the "sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" concept of Arthur C. Clarke
Arthur C. Clarke
Sir Arthur Charles Clarke, CBE, FRAS was a British science fiction author, inventor, and futurist, famous for his short stories and novels, among them 2001: A Space Odyssey, and as a host and commentator in the British television series Mysterious World. For many years, Robert A. Heinlein,...
.) The documentary is extremely free-flowing and also highly personal, in that it allows one to gain an close understanding of both the thought processes and internal psychological triggers of William Gibson. Occasionally prompted by an unseen driver figure (female in voice) and sometimes communicating with outside figures (specifically, Jack Womack and Bono, who was also being filmed at the time, the final product being superimposed
Superimposed
Superimposed is an Indie Metal band based in Manchester, England. The exact membership of the band is subject to speculation, as the number of members appearing at gigs varies, and their identity is heavily masked...
on an electronic billboard
Billboard
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
).
In the film, while recounting his childhood near Conway, South Carolina
Conway, South Carolina
Conway is a city in Horry County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 16,317 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Horry County and is part of the Myrtle Beach metropolitan area. It is the home of Coastal Carolina University....
, Gibson reflects on his early works, saying:
Cinematography
The entire documentary revolves around footage taken from the car, either from front-facing cameras (presumably mounted near the dashboard or on the actual chassis) or from internally-mounted ones, fitted to center on Gibson, who sits in the back seat of the limousine. Only on one occasion does he leave the car, to wander up and down a favourite beach, and here he is also filmed, providing one of the documentary's iconic images, that of a weathered monochromatic Gibson in a long black coat being buffeted by the strong coastal breeze. Neale consistently plays with the recorded footage, reversing sections of the film while keeping others playing or stopping them entirely, fading between similar but fundamentally different pieces of footage, and even at one point combining footage of Gibson with the screen of an antique television as he describes the advent of television in the Southern United States.In The End of Celluloid
The End of Celluloid
The End of Celluloid: Film futures in the digital age is a book, written by Matt Hanson and published by RotoVision in 2004, on digital cinematography, machinima, video games, music video, and other emerging film forms.- External links :**...
(2004), historian of digital art Matt Hanson
Matt Hanson
Matt Hanson is an author, film producer, and film director, specializing in digital art. He has created a series of projects which investigate cinema's possible futures, including A Swarm of Angels, onedotzero, and book projects including The End of Celluloid...
argues that No Maps was a film that could not have been made before the advent of digital technology.
Release and reception
No Maps was released by Docurama and had its world premiere at the Vancouver International Film FestivalVancouver International Film Festival
The Vancouver International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada for two weeks in late September and early October...
in October 2000 with the United States premiere at the Slamdance Film Festival
Slamdance Film Festival
As a year-round organization, Slamdance serves as a showcase for the discovery of new and emerging talent in the film industry; it is also the only major film festival fully programmed by filmmakers. Slamdance counts among its alumni many notable writers and directors who first gained notice at the...
in January 2001. The documentary subsequently hit the independent film festival circuit, with screenings at South by Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
in Austin, Texas (March 2001), Grauman's Egyptian Theatre
Grauman's Egyptian Theatre
Grauman's Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California, is one of the world's most famous movie theatres. Opened in 1922, it was the venue for the first-ever Hollywood premiere.- History :...
in Los Angeles (March 2001); onedotzero
Onedotzero
onedotzero is a contemporary, digital arts organisation with a remit to promote innovation across all forms of moving image and motion arts....
at the Institute of Contemporary Arts, London (May 2001), the Carlton Arts Festival in São Paulo (June 2001), the Oldenburg International Film Festival in Germany (September 2001), and at onedotzero Japan (November 2001).
The film critics of the New Times LA
New Times LA
New Times LA is a now-defunct alternative weekly newspaper that was published in Los Angeles, California by the New Times Media corporation from 1996 until 2002. The editor-in-chief for its entire run was Rick Barrs...
and the Riverfront Times
Riverfront Times
The Riverfront Times is a weekly newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri that consists of local politics, music, arts and dining news in the print edition and daily updates to blogs and photo galleries on its website...
of St. Louis, Missouri recognised the film as the best documentary of 2001, with the latter commenting "Gibson's writing is often tedious, but the man proves articulate and compelling, especially when seated in the back of a car that appears to be driving across different dimensions." Postcyberpunk novelist Cory Doctorow
Cory Doctorow
Cory Efram Doctorow is a Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author who serves as co-editor of the blog Boing Boing. He is an activist in favour of liberalising copyright laws and a proponent of the Creative Commons organization, using some of their licences for his books...
, reviewing the film for Wired magazine, concluded "Nostalgic without being maudlin, No Maps for These Territories is a one-man show with revelations every minute". Reviewer Merle Bertrand of Film Threat
Film Threat
Film Threat is a former print magazine and, now, webzine which focuses primarily on independent film, although it also reviews DVDs of mainstream films and Hollywood movies in theaters. It first appeared as a photocopied zine in 1985, created by Wayne State University students Chris Gore and André...
was unenthused by the premise of the film, but found that "its rapid-fire editing, mystically brooding yet ironic atmosphere, and eerie soundtrack keeps it from ever becoming dull" despite its repetitive treatment of the subject matter, and ultimately hailed the documentary as "a brilliant and intelligent viewing experience".
In the run-up to the release of Gibson's ninth novel Spook Country
Spook Country
Spook Country is a 2007 novel by speculative fiction author William Gibson. A political thriller set in contemporary North America, it followed on from the author's previous novel, Pattern Recognition , and was succeeded in 2010 by Zero History, which featured much of its core cast of characters...
in summer 2007, publisher Penguin Books
Penguin Books
Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...
announced their intent to screen the "fine and strange" documentary in the virtual world Second Life
Second Life
Second Life is an online virtual world developed by Linden Lab. It was launched on June 23, 2003. A number of free client programs, or Viewers, enable Second Life users, called Residents, to interact with each other through avatars...
.
External links
- NoMaps.com, the defunct official website archived by the Wayback MachineWayback MachineThe Wayback Machine is a digital time capsule created by the Internet Archive non-profit organization, based in San Francisco, California. It is maintained with content from Alexa Internet. The service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the Archive calls a "three...
on June 5, 2008 - No Maps for These Territories at Docurama Films
- Director's Statement by Mark Neale
- Transcription