Hidden in Plain Sight

14 min single screen film work originally commissioned Catsou Roberts for the Centre D’Art et Photographie de Lectoure

Sarah Dobai’s recent film, Hidden in Plain Sight looked at the figure of the petty thief as featured in Robert Bresson’s acclaimed film Pickpocket (1959). In this work Dobai worked with actors to re-enact sections from Bresson’s film where the protagonists rehearse and perform the techniques that pickpockets use to avoid being caught.
Conceived in the wake of the 2008 financial crash, Hidden in Plain Sight reflects on the figure of the thief and their use of the arts of misdirection and sleight of hand, which have acquired current resonance in the light recent events in the global economy.

At some iterations the film projection is accompanied by a live reading of the script voiced from the perspective of one of the participants. At other presentations, this script is embedded in the film with a French voiceover and English subtitles.