Extraordinary filmmaker, Adam Curtis is an eye-opening storyteller, deeply interested in describing our reality as never presented before. His commentaries alone are worth many listens. His use of video and still images is always fascinating.
He is back with a very striking film, to be shown on the BBC's web platform, the iPlayer, in one month.
The film will premiere at 9pm on Sunday 16 October.
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See the trailer here:
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Read more below:
http://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/33042/1/new-adam-curtis-film-hypernormalisation-out-next-month?utm_source=Link&utm_medium=Link&utm_campaign=RSSFeed&utm_term=new-adam-curtis-film-hypernormalisation-out-next-month&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
DAZED
New Adam Curtis film HyperNormalisation out next month
Massive Attack announced the release of the unique documentary maker’s new film via their Facebook – have we become lost in a fake world?
- TextThomas Gorton
Ever get the feeling that things are increasingly difficult to understand? That information, despite it being everywhere, is increasingly difficult to process? That power systems and their infrastructures are impossible to decipher and even harder to penetrate? You aren’t alone.
In his new film HyperNormalisation, journalist and vital filmmaker Adam Curtis (Bitter Lake, All Watched Over By Machines Of Loving Grace) explores the complexities of modern life and traces a journey from 1975, beginning in New York and Damascus, right through to today’s Trump-dominated media landscape, exploring simply what is real anymore and asking the question “how did we become lost in this fake world?”
As with all of Curtis’ films, an unnerving soundtrack complements the film’s overarching theme – not just that we are being unsettled, but that it’s happening deliberately.
BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2016/adam-curtis-hypernormalisation
Adam Curtis’ new film HyperNormalisation to premiere on BBC iPlayer this October
HyperNormalisation tells the extraordinary story of how we got to this strange time of great uncertainty and confusion - where those who are supposed to be in power are paralysed - and have no idea what to do. And, where events keep happening that seem inexplicable and out of control - from Donald Trump to Brexit, the War in Syria, the endless migrant crisis, and random bomb attacks. It explains not only why these chaotic events are happening - but also why we, and our politicians, cannot understand them.
The film shows that what has happened is that all of us in the West - not just the politicians and the journalists and the experts, but we ourselves - have retreated into a simplified, and often completely fake version of the world. But because it is all around us, we accept it as normal.
HyperNormalisation has been made specifically for BBC iPlayer. It tells an epic narrative spanning 40 years, with an extraordinary cast of characters. They include the Assad dynasty, Donald Trump, Henry Kissinger, Patti Smith, the early performance artists in New York, President Putin, intelligent machines, Japanese gangsters, suicide bombers - and the extraordinary untold story of the rise, fall, rise again, and finally the assassination of Colonel Gaddafi.
All these stories are woven together to show how today’s fake and hollow world was created. Part of it was done by those in power - politicians, financiers and technological utopians. Rather than face up to the real complexities of the world, they retreated. And instead constructed a simpler version of the world in order to hang onto power.
But it wasn’t just those in power. The film shows how this strange world was built by all of us. We all went along with it because the simplicity was reassuring. And that included the left and the radicals who thought they were attacking the system. The film reveals how they too retreated into this make-believe world - which is why their opposition today has no effect, and nothing ever changes.
Victoria Jaye, Head of TV content, BBC iPlayer says: ““Adam is a brilliant storyteller and film maker, who has taken full creative advantage of BBC iPlayer to produce ambitious, groundbreaking new work. HyperNormalisation is both timely and important and builds on the huge success of Bitter Lake which attracted over 1.8 million requests to the platform. So far this year, iPlayer first titles have attracted over 75 million requests, which is a significant contribution from a select few titles and we expect to see this rise as we look to premiere more and more content on the service.”
Adam Curtis says: “BBC iPlayer offers an extraordinary place to experiment and to tell stories that allow you to explore and explain the strangeness of our modern world in a new way. Complex, interwoven stories that reflect the new complexity and unpredictability of our time.”
HyperNormalisation builds on the success of Bitter Lake, Adam Curtis’ first iPlayer commission and The Rack Pack, which attracted over 1.2m requests on iPlayer before being broadcast on BBC Two.
Notes to Editors
BBC iPlayer is available on over 10,000 devices in the UK for free, from computers and smartphones to tablets and Connected TVs. BBC iPlayer and BBC iPlayer Radio saw a record-breaking 3.6bn TV and radio programme requests in 2015 - with nearly 3 billion TV requests, and 0.7bn radio requests, across all devices.
BBC iPlayer is available on over 10,000 devices in the UK for free, from computers and smartphones to tablets and Connected TVs. BBC iPlayer and BBC iPlayer Radio saw a record-breaking 3.6bn TV and radio programme requests in 2015 - with nearly 3 billion TV requests, and 0.7bn radio requests, across all devices.
IW
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The Independent:
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/hypernormalisation-adam-curtis-bbc-documentary-to-look-at-why-the-world-is-so-hopelessly-fcked-a7322391.html
HyperNormalisation: Adam Curtis BBC documentary to look at why the world is so hopelessly f*cked
'We have retreated into a simplified and often completely fake version of the world'
Revered filmmaker Adam Curtis has a new film coming to BBC iPlayer that will explore our increasingly false perception and presentation of the world around us.
The official blurb from the BBC explains it very nicely, so I’ll get straight to that:
'HyperNormalisation tells the extraordinary story of how we got to this strange time of great uncertainty and confusion - where those who are supposed to be in power are paralysed - and have no idea what to do. And, where events keep happening that seem inexplicable and out of control - from Donald Trump to Brexit, the War in Syria, the endless migrant crisis, and random bomb attacks. It explains not only why these chaotic events are happening - but also why we, and our politicians, cannot understand them.
'The film shows that what has happened is that all of us in the West - not just the politicians and the journalists and the experts, but we ourselves - have retreated into a simplified, and often completely fake version of the world. But because it is all around us, we accept it as normal.'
HyperNormalisation will draw upon a maelstrom of stories, attempting to weave them together and ascertain how today’s fake and hollow world was created.
One need only glance at social media to see how the world and its many complex issues have been simplified, so it will be interesting to see a documentary maker as talented as Curtis - the man behind Bitter Lake - tackle this.
Spanning 40 years, the narrative will include the Assad dynasty, Donald Trump, Henry Kissinger, Patti Smith, the early performance artists in New York, President Putin, intelligent machines, Japanese gangsters, suicide bombers rise, fall, rise again, and finally the assassination of Colonel Gaddafi.
HyperNormalisation will be released on BBC iPlayer on Sunday 16 October.
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