video

Being Hemingway - Camera/Editor

Growing up in Miami, I heard about the Ernest Hemingway Look-a-like contest every year on the local news and have always dreamt of attending. I went down as a fly on the wall to shoot coverage and will be using it apply for grants and raise money to make an in depth documentary.

In my research, I learned that the competition has little to do with looking like Hemingway or even liking him, for that matter. Instead it’s a front for an exclusive fraternity of older white men who only “accept” one new member a year….the winner. Bribes are openly taken and the winner is pre-determined well before the competition begins. Yet people keep competing…one man has even been vying for the title 27 years in a row!

I plan to focus on a first time competitor and contrast it with the exclusive winners circle. In addition to showing the underside of the competition, I hope to bring to light the love for the writer that has gotten lost throughout the years.