The spread of agile management in neoliberal economies along with openness and freedom principles accompanied by the revolutionary development of telecommunications has radically transformed humanity and turned the planet into a global village—the home of a connected web society. The more time we spend in virtual spaces, there more our sensibility and cognitive functions change. But does the large-scale digitization of life lead us to freedom or to slavery? Directors in this section explore the place of the human in the new technological reality that sometimes looks like a dream.
No One Cried
From white walls to pompous decorations, various rooms of webcam models operate as a portal to the fantasy world of desire for many people. By focusing on the moments when the models are off-screen, Daniel Jacoby confronts the audience with the disturbing energy of these empty spaces full of libidinal tension. The growing discomfort from the constant expectation of an erotic spectacle sets the vector for the perception of interviews with sex workers who talk about the psychological consequences of digital labor.
The film will be screened in English.
Dir. Daniel Jacoby
The Netherlands, 2021. 23 min. 18+
Letters About the End of the World
Under the forced isolation in 2020, Dina Karaman began to keep a video diary, filming from the window of her apartment in St. Petersburg. The deserted urban landscape opening up to the eyes, which seemed to her an eerie dream, pushed Dina to find out what other people dream about while going through the lockdown. Recordings of people recounting their dreams and audio notes contributed by strangers are woven in this piece into a motley web of fears, memories, and hopes.
The film will be screened in its original language with Russian and English subtitles.
Dir. Dina Karaman
Russia, 2021. 29 min. 18+
Sensory Overload
Sitting on the bus after a long day, the mother drifts away from reality in her existential experiences. Images of hair braided in dreadlocks, a ritual mask drowning in the sunlight, and a smoking cigarette become companions on her journey through the labyrinths of mind. Sensory Overload blurs the concepts of space, time, and form with the help of Natacha Muzira’s poem about the liberating power of imagination, voiced off-screen. In Rwanda, a country with a developed oral culture, it is the word that becomes the catalyst for unlocking the potential of cinematic tropes.
The film will be screened in French with Russian and English subtitles.
Dir. Ganza Moise
Rwanda, 2020. 7 min. 18+
A Vey Long Exposure Time
This video is a meditation on the respective temporalities of images created using different technologies. Among them are shots taken with Louis Daguerre’s photographic device and 16mm film cameras, pixelated graphics of old video games consoles and early smartphones, as well as screenshots of a contemporary digital interface. In an effort to identify the ideologies encapsulated in these images, Chloé Galibert-Laîné asks: what aspects of reality have these different technologies been designed to document? What phenomena can escape their capture?
The film will be screened in English with Russian subtitles.
Dir. Chloé Galibert-Laîné
2020, France. 7 min. 18+
Tracing Utopia
A journey through the dreams of queer teenagers from New York who discuss their ideas of a wonderful world of the future. Documented using smartphones, electronic music, and video projection, Catarina de Sousa and Nick Tyson’s audiovisual performance is transformed into a portrait of a utopian community. Young people get together in the virtual space of the Minecraft computer game to build a military love machine. In this manifesto film, past and future are woven together, calling for the social change many young people are fighting for today.
The film will be screened in English with Russian subtitles.
Dir. Catarina de Sousa, Nick Tyson
Portugal, USA, 2021. 27 min. 18+