Szczecin European Film Festival 2017: 21.10.2017, Saturday, 20:10
Kino Zamek, Korsarzy 34 (where is that?)
Blok tematyczny: The European Competition '17
A documentary essay about the human condition in 21st-century western society told through the personal stories of 21 people met in the New York City subway. It is a multilayered symphony about emotional longings, the need for communication, and the search for a sense of existence. This trance-like cinematic collage is made of fragmented conversations, scraps of memories and observations which build up a portrait of a world that lost its way.
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A film inspired by a classic film genre, a city symphony. The title refers to a verse from William Shakespeare's “The Tempest,” which tells the story of wizard Prospero, the rightful Duke of Milan. The manipulations of Prospero are reflected in this video with the use of cinematographic tricks. Time shifts, digressions (flashbacks), and visual abstractions describe the development of the city of Milan, shown allegorically in the form of skyscraper constructions. The film seems to seek an answer to a specific question: can we crystalise time with the use of expired film stock?
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Sara is not a woman, she is a device: a Google Street View camera, who photographs streets from the top of a car. But when she listens to the music of driver Larry for the first time, something starts to shake in her. Deeply unsettled by this behaviour, she searches for help with the common Google Search. Google, which just wants the best for its users, only strengthens her desire. Quickly, this leads to an existential conflict with the actual camera use.
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The film is set in the Pionen data centre, a former Cold War era civil defence bunker buried 30 metres underground in Stockholm, currently housing servers for clients that once included Wikileaks and The PirateBay. Part Bond villain lair, part retro-futuristic spaceship, the 16mm film plays on this science fiction aesthetic. As the camera idles on the florescent-lit server stacks, issues of privacy, surveillance, and digital sovereignty inevitably emanate.
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