When I first saw Anatomy of a Fall back at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023, I expected that the courtroom drama would be critically acclaimed. I could even imagine an Oscar win. What I did not foresee was the fancams.

These vertical video edits of clips focus on a celebrity or character, usually set to pop music. If you want to nitpick, you can also call them fan edits, especially if they involve multiple people onscreen. The fancam phenomenon grew out of the world of K-pop, where enthusiasts often make videos focusing solely on one member of a large band.

These days, my feeds are full of film and TV fancams, which I have come to love and seek out. But perhaps the most notable one was from last year and focused on Swann Arlaud in his role as the defense attorney Vincent Renzi in Anatomy of a Fall. Set to Rina Sawayamas song Comme Des Garons (Like the Boys), he runs his fingers through his hair, he lights a cigarette, he stares intensely, he sighs. The music is timed to begin on the lyric Im so confident, thus signaling that Vincent is a bit of a badass. Suddenly, through a savvy bit of editing, a character actor in a serious French drama got the same treatment as a pop heartthrob.

There are other Anatomy of a Fall fancams, including ones dedicated to Sandra Hller, who plays the author on trial for the death of her husband, and the sassy prosecutor trying to convict her. But theres something, dare I say, brilliant about the Arlaud fancam. For one, its a little subversive in the way it applies the language of pop music to art cinema. Its also just an example of good editing in the way it matches Arlauds glances and movements to the beat of the song, the lyrics of which further present him as a swaggering star with a touch of irony, given that hes a humble, often stressed-out lawyer in the context of the movie.

The best fancams have at least some of these qualities. They feature clever, surprising uses of music, highlight films or stars you wouldnt necessarily expect to get this kind of treatment, and are energetically put together. In that way, the fancam itself has become its own art form and a great platform for cinephiles to show their ardent devotion.

The Parisian creator of the Arlaud fancam, who goes by @ginafancam and asked not to share her full name, told me over email: Its my way to pay tribute to the film. Some prefer to tell their love of cinema by writing a review, for example, but I prefer to do it by editing. She added that she was happy that her creation encouraged people from all over the world to watch a French auteur film.

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Focusing In on One Star, Fancams Find a Love of the Movies - The New York Times