Daniel Dugas, Mini-DV, 2:30min, Calgary
Actor David Hasselhoff enjoyed celebrity status with starring roles in popular television series such as Baywatch and Knight Rider. He later attained notoriety in a widely circulated video shot by his daughter, which featured him eating a hamburger while inebriated and lying on the floor. Daniel Dugas' elegant video A Chandelier Accident chronicles another less fortunate incident in the life of the Hollywood star, this time in London's Sanderson Hotel. Dugas juxtaposes text from a BBC news story of Hasselhoff's run in with a light fixture in a men's toilet with shots of chandeliers in a New Orleans antique shop. A wry take on mainstream culture's fascination with celebrity, A Chandelier Accident directs the viewers' gaze towards the ceiling optimistically envisioning a hassle free future for the Hoff.
Daniel Dugas is a poet, musician and videographer. His fifth book of poetry Meme un detour serait correct was published in the fall of 2006 by Les Editions Pris de Parole and was short listed for the France-Acadie Award and the Prix Literaire Antoine-Maillet. The DVD of this work was shown at the 19th Instants Video in Marsaille, at the Recontre du film numerique de Mantes La Jolie and in the Videoteque ephemere, of the VIDEOFORMES 2006 Festival in Clermont-Ferrand, France. Daniel currently lives in Calgary.