(By SFist MiHi Ahn)
Eleven Minutes follows Project Runway--season one winner Jay McCarroll for an entire year as he attempts to become a real fashion designer and not just a reality TV star. A difficult feat to say the least. (McCarroll reportedly declined the Project Runway cash prize of $100,000 and a mentorship opportunity at Banana Republic because the contract required him to sign away 10% of his professional earning in perpetuity. You go girl!)
The film follows the drama and histrionics of the creative process as McCarroll prepares to show his first collection during fashion week in 2006. We thought "eleven minutes" was a reference to the Andy Warhol quote about everyone getting 15 minutes of fame, but it actually refers to the approximate length of a fashion show. The outrageous amount of work and anxiety involved in creating those 11 minutes is an ordeal that will feel familiar to any one in a creative profession, anyone with a creative drive.
Other than shaky audio (a few parts of the movie were completely unintelligible while other moments were mysteriously subtitled), Eleven Minutes is ultimately an entertaining documentary. (Although we were a little bit conflicted about devoting so much time to a character who may, in fact, be the embodiment of Warhol's 15 minutes of fame.) Having said that, we must give McCarroll credit for his ability for creating designs and his balanced view of the fashion industry. Although we found him just a touch too much on Project Runway, we really started to like the guy in this confection of a documentary.