About the Films
Save the Date! Monday 23 - Friday 27 February. Orientation is designed to help you settle in, connect with your peers, and discover everything you need to thrive in your graduate studies.
OPENING NIGHT
MONDAY 16 SEPTEMBER
A Trip to the Moon (George Méliès, France, 1902, 11 minutes)
A Trip to the Moon follows a group of astronomers who travel to the Moon in a cannon-propelled capsule, explore the Moon's surface, escape from an underground group of lunar inhabitants, and return to Earth with a captive Selenite. George Méliès' best known film is widely regarded as the earliest example of the science fiction film genre.
Ghost in the Shell (Mamoru Oshii, Japan, 1995, 83 minutes)
The world of Ghost in the Shell is part futuristic action movie and part philosophy lecture, in which artfully constructed animated action sequences serve as vehicles for investigations into the nature of consciousness. In the year 2029, the world has become interconnected by a vast electronic network that permeates every aspect of life. Major Motoko Kusanagi, a female cyborg officer, is spearheading the investigation into a master hacker known only as the Puppet Master, who robs humans of their memories.
THE AI THAT FEELS
WEDNESDAY 18 SEPTEMBER
I Am Your Man (Maria Schrader, Germany, 2021, 105min)
Recently separated forty-something Alma (the effervescent Maren Eggert, in her Berlinale award-winning performance) is a research scientist at Berlin’s magnificent Pergamon Museum, and entirely dedicated to her work. Needing research funds, she’s persuaded by her supervisor to participate in an extraordinary study: for three weeks she must live with a human-like robot designed solely to be her ideal companion. Thus, after an exhaustive survey of her preferences, Alma is introduced to the unflappably upbeat Tom (Downton Abbey’s Dan Stevens, in a revelatory performance), a handsome A.I. creation who’s programmed to adapt to her desires as they get to know each other, making him her perfect life partner. Though thoroughly disinterested in Tom and dismissive of the project overall, Alma discovers that life can take us in unexpected directions...
Taking inspiration from a short story by Emma Braslavsky, and sharing DNA with Spike Jonze’s Her, Schrader’s intriguing tragicomedy is a witty and nuanced take on the familiar odd-couple dynamic, questioning love, longing and what it takes to be human. (Palace Cinema)
FUTURE IMAGINATIONS
THURSDAY 19 SEPTEMBER
Sleep Dealer (Alex Rivera, Mexico, 2009, 90 Minutes)
Sleep Dealer is a Sundance award-winning thought-provoking sci-fi thriller packed with stunning visuals, hailed by critics and audiences as impressive and eye-opening. The film depicts a dystopian future to explore ways in which technology both oppresses and connects migrants. A fortified wall has ended unauthorized Mexico-US immigration, but migrant workers are replaced by robots, remotely controlled by the same class of would-be emigrants. Their life force is inevitably used up, and they are discarded without medical compensation.
Themes: digital labour, technology and geopolitical boundaries, cyborgs, gothic science fiction
ROBOTS, ROMANCE AND VR TECHNOLOGY
FRIDAY 20 SEPTEMBER
Enthiran 2.0 (S. Shankar, 2018, 147 minutes)
Scientist Vaseegaran (Rajinikanth) has to revive his rogue humanoid robot, Chitti (also Rajinikanth), so as to save mankind from Pakshirajan, the angry birdman who loathes mobiles. A duel begins between Chitti and Pakshirajan with Shankar challenging audience's perception of what constitutes evil. Is it still evil if it has a well-meaning mission? (India Today). Watch the trailer.
Themes: VR technology and special effects, sci fi genre and Bollywood, AI and Tamil culture