Film: Mobilisierung der Träume / Dreams Rewired

The HMKV is showing a film programme in the Schauburg and sweetSixteen cinemas in Dortmund in the context of the exhibition Computer Grrrls. Admission is free.

Mobilisierung der Träume / Dreams Rewired
AT/DE/GB | 2014 | 85 Min.
Director: Manu Luksch, Martin Reinhart and Thomas Tode

»Every age thinks it's the modern age, but this one really is.«
Tom Stoppard, 1876

Dreams Rewired looks at the exciting pioneering days of our modern media society. Many of the technical developments that were anticipated at that time have since become reality thanks to the digital revolution and the networking of society.

Conceived as a collage of found footage, the film presents a universe rich in images and sound and tells of the promises of technological, artistic and social utopias. The archive footage from the 1890s to the 1930s recalls the euphoria and fears associated with things that had never before been dreamt of but which were now becoming real thanks to technology. Starting in around 1880 with Edison's talking machine, the radio and film and ending with today's multimedia innovations such as mobile phones, Skype and surveillance technology – innovations that already existed in the science fiction of the film pioneers. An entertaining guide to the exceptionally lively early days of the cinema, narrated by Tilda Swinton.

Over the past 20 years, Manu Luksch has been researching the effects of emerging technologies on daily life, social relations, urban space, and political structures. Currently, as Resident Artist at Somerset House, Open Society Fellow and visiting Fellow at Goldsmiths, University of London, she is investigating the rise of the 'Algorithmic City', with a focus on corporate-governmental relationships and the social effects of predictive analytics. She presents her findings through film and intermedia art, and by creating tools for other citizens. Her work is included, amongst other, in the Collection de Centre Pompidou, the BFI National Archive, and the Core Collection at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and was awarded with Best Feature Documentary at Moscow International Documentary Film Festival 2016, Best Artivist at Elevate Festival 2015, M. v. Willemer Prize by Ars Electronica Centre and City of Linz, et al. (Source: http://www.manuluksch.com/studio)