Shortfilm Programme : Weaponisation of Technological Infrastructure

Onset  - Anna Engelhardt & Mark Cinkevich (2023, 25')

A demon roams through an ominous synthetic environment, reconstructed from satellite images of Russian air bases: Khmeimim in Syria, Baranovichi in Belarus, and Belbek in Ukraine. This parasitic force pervades the air bases, passing through their deserted corridors, interrogation rooms and electricity substations. Devastation follows in its wake. In this single-channel video installation, Engelhardt and Cinkevich use an unholy alliance of medieval demonology, open-source intelligence and CGI animation to uncover the hidden life of these military outposts. Over the course of the film, the true horror of Russian colonialism becomes manifest in the process of possession – the imposition of external control that gradually destroys an organism from within. 

Chronosphere - Lesia Vasylchenko (2024, 31')

Using CGI animation, Synthetic-aperture radar data from space satellites, filmed footage and AI-generated imagery, Chronosphere is a witness statement to be presented before a speculative court of Time. From the gradual melting of glaciers to the enduring scars of oil and lithium extraction, from the devastation of bomb-scarred grain fields to the instability of the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, we see the speculative apocalyptic future threaten to unfold at every timescale. 

The Pegasus Stories - Forensic Architecture (2021, 30')

First detected in 2015, the NSO Group’s Pegasus malware has reportedly been used in at least 45 countries worldwide to infect the phones of activists, journalists and human rights defenders. Having learnt that former collaborators and close associates were hacked by Pegasus, Forensic Architecture undertook 15 months of extensive open-source research, interviews assisted by Laura Poitras, and developed bespoke software to present this data as an interactive 3D platform, along with video investigations narrated by Edward Snowden to tell the stories of the individuals targeted and the web of corporate affiliations within which NSO is nested.