Notes from Eremocene with Viera Čákanyová

[June 06, 2023] Notes from Eremocene (Berlinale Forum, 2023) by Viera Čákanyová is an experimental documentary that delves into the future possibilities of blockchain technology and artificial intelligence. Through a captivating blend of analog footage and 3D scanner images, Čákanyová captures the clash between traditional and digital elements of contemporary society.

This is her third feature, concluding a trilogy that began with her debut work, FREM (2019), followed by the documentary White on White (2020). Across all three films, she explores the same themes: artificial intelligence, a dystopian future for humanity, analog versus digital, nature versus civilization, and climate change.

In a fun conversation about serious matters, this episode explores Čákanyová's artistic process, which can be solitary at times, and her approach to sound, editing, and cinematography. We also delve into the different perspectives she inhabits in each of her films and the profound questions these films raise about our existence and the future of our societies.

Podcast Episode is also available on Spotify & Apple Podcast

NOTES FROM EREMOCENE (2023) by Viera Čákanyová

Country of production: Slovakia, Czech Republic

Runtime: 78'

Festivals: Berlinale Forum, DocuDays

SYNOPSIS - A hands-on and deeply personal work, NOTES FROM EREMOCENE is an audiovisual postcard dispatched by filmmaker Viera Čákanyová into an ambivalent world to come. Drawing upon a fictional conversation with her future virtual clone, the film offers a window into a world in which the technological solutions mankind has devised for sustaining its existence have major and unexpected downsides.

FILMMAKER’S BIO - Viera Čákanyová (b. 1980) studied scriptwriting at the Academy of Performing Arts in Bratislava and documentary filmmaking at FAMU in Prague. Her early feature documentaries won a number of awards, such as Best First/Second film at Visions du Réel and Best Documentary at German Documentary FF in Kassel. Her visual storytelling can be found in the films GOTTLAND (2014) or SLOVAKIA 2.0 (2014). FREM (2019) and WHITE ON WHITE (2020)
are currently her most successful films. Her feature debut FREM had its world premiere at the Ji.hlava IDFF 2019 followed by its international premiere at the Berlinale 2020, and won the Award for Best Debut at the ELBE DOCK festival. The film was screened at more than two dozen important international film festivals around the world. Her subsequent film WHITE ON WHITE won the main prize at the Ji.hlava IDFF in 2020. It also won the GreenDox Award at Dokufest in Kosovo, the Czech Competition at One World in Prague and was selected for the main competitions at the prestigious Sheffield DocFest and ZagrebDox.

About Docs in Orbit

Docs in Orbit is an artist-led, transnational podcast for independent, creative non-fiction filmmakers. We offer in-depth conversations centered around the creative process, paying close attention to diverse forms present in contemporary non-fiction cinema, the challenges filmmakers encounter as they work with the moving image, and modern approaches to film curation.

We seek to provide a nourishing space for artists to explore new works that move them and facilitate meaningful exchanges and cross-cultural connections.

Since launching in April 2020, we have produced over 55 episodes and served as the premiere podcast to interview filmmakers debuting new works in international film festivals, including Jessica Beshir (Faya Dayi, Sundance 2021), Payal Kapadia (A Night of Knowing Nothing, Cannes 2021) and Shaunak Sen (All That Breathes, Sundance 2022).

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