WEB JUNKIE

Web Junkie

Directed by Shosh Shlam and Hilla Medalia

74 mins | Israel | 2014

WEB JUNKIE, an eye-opening documentary, is filmed almost entirely in this camp (where the filmmakers were given extraordinary access) – a surreal mix of prison, hospital, and military operation, with a dose of group therapy thrown in for good measure. Both parents and their children participate in the therapy sessions and these scenes make for some of the movie’s saddest and most revealing moments. The film suggests that Chinese officials have no idea how to cope with a younger generation thatĀ finds World of Warcraft more exciting and more real than their own lives. And it portrays a profoundly distressing conundrum experienced by parents of teenagers worldwide: how to communicate with their wildly disgruntled children, and how to help them find meaning in their lives. (C) Film Forum