NEW YORK, NY - MAY 31: Artist/film subject Marina Abramovic attends the HBO Documentary Screening of “Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present†at MoMA on May 31, 2012 in New York City. (Photo by Michael Loccisano/Getty Images for HBO)
Photo: Michael Loccisano/2012 Getty Images
The inaugural Champs-Elysée Film Festival closed out tonight, handing its Audience Prize to Matthew Aker’s documentary Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present, which chronicled the performance artist’s 730-hour staring contest at MoMA. Despite the win, we can’t help wonder just how much lustier the reception might’ve been if Abramovic really had let magician David Blaine disembowel her with a fire axe.