Paranoid Power

From surveillance and operating systems to moral and legislative ones, the six films in PARANOID POWER look at the dynamics and mechanisms of power, as well as at the malleability of justice — whether we are talking about the distant past of the 19th century, the recent past of Ba'athist dictatorships and Burmese military juntas, a present marked by the constant acceleration of oppression, or a probable future dominated by digital entities. In CITIZEN-INMATE and A METAMORPHOSIS, the directors reappropriate and repoliticise images of the masses and mass culture, with the former speculating on the Big Brother quality of the digital surveillance of former prisoners in Iran, and the latter re-enacting television images in theatrical and abstract pastiches. In LOYNES and EMPTY RIDER, we stand witness to two absurd trials, one of a defendant as much nameless as dead, and the other of an autonomous car with a troubled conscience (or is it?). In ANOTHER OTHER, images from popular films are deconstructed and confronted with a disjointed sound that examines systemic denial and racism in America, while in THE MOTHERFUCKER'S BIRTHDAY, the so-called poor-image vulgarity of pixelated videos is surpassed only by the opulent vulgarity of the celebrations dedicated to Saddam Hussein. To paraphrase famed prophet of The Matrix, Morpheus, the power is all around us. Even now, in this very room. (Dora Leu)

A Metamorphosis

Lin Htet Aung | Duration 17'

In the houses, after parting, Mothers were made up of tears. Sons were transformed into empty glass cups. And the lullabies became a curse. The film examines the suffering and resilience of the Burmese people by using the distinct political elements that have floated for several years on the ocean of political opera under repetitive military dictatorships in Myanmar.

The Motherfucker’s Birthday

Saif Alsaegh | Duration 7'

Through dancing, the film shows the evil of dictators and the horror people endure under powerful political leaders. Saddam dances, Bush dances, so what's left for the Iraqi people except to join in?

Loynes

Dorian Jespers | Duration 25'

A Kafkaesque courtroom drama set in 19th-century Liverpool, recounting the trial of a corpse with neither name nor past. Dozens have gathered for the absurd ceremony — and perhaps to deliver justice.

Citizen-Inmate

Hesam Eslami | Duration 15'

The electronic monitoring has transformed Tehran into a digital panopticon, turning the nightmare of constant surveillance and control into a reality. But what happens when the roles are reversed and the focus is turned on the surveillants?

Empty Rider

Lawrence Lek | Duration 15'

EMPTY RIDER is a single-channel video installation that extends Lawrence Lek’s use of cinematic language and simulated environments to explore the architecture of control. Developed using computer-generated animation, the work follows the trial of Vanguard, a sentient self-driving car accused of an attack on its human operator.

Another Other

Bex Oluwatoyin Thompson | Duration 9'

A Black police officer and a university president are interrogated by multiple white state officials after their failures to sufficiently comply with their respective institutions' plans. An experiment in image, sound, and subtitle, ANOTHER OTHER identifies these figures as collaborators with racist systems, even as those systems betray them.