Carmen

What do you need to be, to be really funny? Stand-up comedienne Carmen Lynch knows what it takes. As she wanders from make-up mirror to performance stage, via Portland's woozy streets and an all-night grocery store, we're given an intimate insight into a talented individual. The city's saturated lights and dying, showbiz neon become Carmen's passing backdrop. She confronts herself - her looks, her dreams, the weird rituals of mating in the modern world - by confronting her audiences. Sometimes they laugh with her. Sometimes they don't laugh at all. (Venice International Film Festival)