GALLERY | Science fiction short “The Unstruck Sound” premiered at The Tartu Black Nights Film Festival
The British artists’ group Blast Theory created a new science fiction movie for the European Capital of Culture Tartu 2024 programme that explores life after a climate collapse. The movie is set in the Tartu region during 2074. The movie premiered in Elektriteater as part of the Tartu Black Nights Film Festival and will be screened again in upcoming festivals.
Working with Lanzadera Films and a highly talented cast and crew from Estonia – including actors Katariina Unt, Sergo Vares and Jarmo Reha – Blast Theory has made a short film specially for the Tartu 2024 programme.
“The Unstruck Sound” is an imaginative response to dystopian sci-fi and fears for the future. The movie explores how to survive a climate breakdown and what values we might have to carry to do so. The movie shows how citizens adapt to new threats and find their very own Arts of Survival.
“The film boldly looks to the future through a sci-fi narrative, it presents us with a vision of the future. It’s very intriguing that a British artist collective has created such a piece based specifically on local folklore, having spoken with numerous young and old people from South Estonia,” said Kati Torp, the Artistic Director of Tartu 2024.
The project drew inspiration from the memories of Estonians today to find clues for the future. In 2023, Blast Theory worked with younger generations in the Tartu region. Interviews were conducted with older people who remembered what life was like in 1974. Looking back 50 years ago, to a time characterised by communism and oil crises, what lessons can we take with us into the future, to 2074?
“The accounts showed that life was deeply collective in 1974, with housing, transport and work all centred on sharing and co-dependence,” said Matt Adams, one of the founders of Blast Theory. “Hearing people talk about the balance between personal desires and collective responsibilities became an important theme in the script and one striking story in particular became its centre.” The movie tells the story of a collective surviving through ingenious gardening and strong social ties.
Shot on an old runway used for bombers during the Cold War, in the Tartu Botanic Gardens and on a derelict railway line, the artists worked with VFX Supervisor Egert Kanep to bring the future to life.
Four times BAFTA Award nominated group Blast Theory are renowned internationally as one of the most adventurous artists’ groups using interactive media. They have shown work at Tate Britain, Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney, ICC in Tokyo, Sundance Film Festival, the Venice Biennale and the Royal Opera House. The group has won the Golden Nica for Interactive Art at Prix Ars Electronica and the Nam June Paik Arts Center Prize.
Neli korda BAFTA auhinnale nomineeritud Blast Theory on rahvusvaheliselt tunnustatud kunstirühmitus, mis kasutab interaktiivset meediat. Nad on esinenud Tate Britainis, Sydney Kaasaegse Kunsti Muuseumis, Tokyo ICC-s, Sundance’i filmifestivalil, Veneetsia biennaalil ja Kuninglikus Ooperimajas. Rühmitus on võitnud Prix Ars Electronica kuldse Nica auhinna interaktiivse kunsti kategoorias ja Nam June Paik Arts Centeri auhinna.
Gallery: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1OaYxmDABbPpsNWdt5a6PVU3wSUSeiAqN?usp=share_link (Mikk Otsar / Tartu 2024)