As I'm Still Here premieres at the Venice film festival, its star and director keep audiences guessing as to whether it is a stunt or a faithful documentary

Is it an authentic, warts-and-all documentary about a tortured artist who has fallen out of love with his chosen profession? Or is it a shameless stunt, perpetrated by a pair of Hollywood playboys with too much time and money on their hands? Last night the crowds thronged the Venice red carpet to catch the world premiere of I'm Still Here, a film that features the Oscar-nominated actor Joaquin Phoenix and is directed by his brother-in-law, Casey Affleck. It's safe to say they went home none the wiser.



Shot over a 12-month period, I'm Still Here documents Phoenix's spectacular fall from grace as he attempts to reinvent himself as a bona-fide rap star. It shows him lumbering from a disastrous appearance on David Letterman's talk show to a calamitous concert in Miami, where he interrupts his set to attack a heckler. At one point the star of Gladiator and Walk the Line is seen snorting what appears to be cocaine off the bare breast of a giggling groupie.



Yesterday, Affleck insisted the film was strictly on the level. "There's no hoax," he told reporters. "The idea of a hoax makes me think of [US TV series] Candid Camera and that never entered my consciousness." Affleck was, however, more coy when quizzed on the specifics of several key scenes within the film. "I can understand why this movie can be confusing in terms of what's real and what's not," he admitted. "But I'm reluctant to speak about certain scenes because that would influence people's interpretation of the film. I sincerely don't want to do that."



Instead he described I'm Still Here as a film about "friendship and ambition and dreams", as well as being a portrait of a certain strain of celebrity culture. "I'm not quite what it says about celebrity," he said. "Nothing good, I guess."



Phoenix, for his part, blunders through I'm Still Here sporting dark shades, a survivalist's beard and a thousand-yard stare. The actor was in town, clean-shaven, to attend the premiere, but chose to maintain a dignified silence when it came to the press.



This, inevitably, struck some onlookers as a case of closing the stable door after the horse had bolted. After all, I'm Still Here contains a scene in which the sleeping actor is defecated upon by an aggrieved personal assistant.



Affleck claimed to have no idea what Phoenix thought of the finished film. "I hope the movie will be part of a redemptive process for him," he said. "I think it's hard to watch yourself like that, especially when it's not a character. When it's your name and your face. I imagine Joey is experiencing many things when he sees himself on screen. But his presence here is at least a gesture. It shows that he supports the movie and isn't afraid of it."

• Joaquin Phoenix
• Documentary
• Venice film festival
• Festivals

Xan Brooks

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