A plunge into the mental and political space of Eurasia, undertaken by the Amsterdam-based artists Metahaven. In this video work, abiding mainly as an installation, Metahaven studies the mechanisms of ideological production in relation to language, space, and cognition. The film is part of Inventing the Future—a program of special screenings within the 1st New Holland Island International Debut Film Festival.
After the screening, there will be a discussion featuring political theorist Ilya Budraytskis and artist and curator Nikolay Smirnov. The discussion will be moderated by the film critic and Program Director at New Holland Island International Debut Film Festival Alexey Artamonov.
Assembling cinematic sequences shot in the Southeastern Urals and Macedonia, archival footage, and animation, Eurasia (Questions on Happiness) sets forth on a journey towards the Eurasian steppe where it meets the New Silk Road. Imagining a fractured continent in the thrall of self-learning data sites that trigger world events, the film confronts various forms of hoax, from cut and paste political doctrines to neo-classical facade architectures. Through modes of science fiction, documentary, and folk tale, Eurasia creates an immersion within layers of media production, wrapping facts in fiction, and fiction in facts.
The screening is in Russian, French, Chinese, Macedonian, English, and German with Russian and English subtitles.
Eurasia (Questions on Happiness)
Dir. Metahaven
Netherlands, 2018. 64 min. 0+
