Manuel Ocampo, God is my Copilot

OFFICIAL SELECTION
AFI International Film Festival, Hawaii International Film Festival, International Festival of New Latin American Cinema (Havana), Centre Georges Pompidou Biennale internationale du film sur l'art, Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, Arco in Madrid, San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, Los Angeles Asian American Film Festival, and the Chicago Asian American Showcase, Chicago Art Institute

Manuel Ocampo: God is My Copilot is a one-hour film about the career of a 33-year-old painter, Manuel Ocampo, who came into prominence amidst the contemporary art world’s encounter with multiculturalism.

The film chronicles this hugely talented artist’s rise to popularity, his mistrust of the art world that embraced him, and his efforts to recast himself as a post-identitarian artist. Born in the Philippines, Ocampo came to Los Angeles in the early 80’s where he worked at a Foto-Mat booth and as a cook at McDonald’s before selling his first painting. His paintings, for which he became well-known, conjured the pathology of the colonized psyche. These works became largely popular with wealthy white collectors, art critics and dealers.