and the king said, what a FANTASTIC MACHINE

And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine, har allerede vunnet priser i Sundance og Berlin. Denne svensk/danske dokumentaren regissert av Axel Danielson og Maximilien Van Aertryck er også en essayfilm basert på arkivmateriale, og tar oss gjennom de levende bildenes tekniske utvikling - fra de tidligste kameraene til dagens kakofoni av livestrømming og virale nettvideoer. Dette er en både humoristisk, fengende og tankevekkende film, produsert av det svenske selskapet Platform Produktion, med Erik Hemmendorff og Ruben Östlund som eksekutive produsenter. Den er heller ikke så lite Östlundsk i sitt innhold, og inkluderer flere videoklipp av typen Östlund selv liker å trekke fram som inspirasjonskilder for sine egne filmer. (Sakset fra Aleksander Husers artikkel i Cinema) ---- With a timeline that starts with the invention of photography in the 1800s and (so far) ends with Instagram, this fast-paced and award-winning film takes us on an entertaining surf across the last 150 years of visual culture. With an adventurous, philosophical spirit and visual vigor, the award-winning collage film 'And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine' moves like a cinematic spinning top through the history of moving images. From the first films and photos to today's Hollywood, iPhones, Instagram and over 45 billion cameras worldwide. The directing duo take a critical and affectionate look at the contradictions of modern visual culture, including propaganda films about Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un, behind-the-scenes footage of a group of ISIS fighters in Yemen, Russian youth performing breakneck stunts atop the world's tallest buildings, and a camera masterclass with Leni Riefenstahl. An entertaining and thought-provoking film that will make you look with fresh eyes at the visual world we live in. ---- "The camera records what's in front of it. What should we do with that opportunity?" And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine is a plunge into the vast historic ocean of media culture. From the birth of the camera obscura to the screening of the first moving picture and from the invention of the webcam to the first viral video, the witty and thought-provoking documentary chases the rise of image culture as we know it. By collaging historic archive material of great dictators parading in front of cheering crowds with home videos, live-streaming content and clips of thrill-seekers hanging out at the top of a skyscraper, or harrowing press photography exhibiting violence, it offers an emblematic study of cinema and the social history it creates: What are the implications of being exposed to the billions of images competing for our attention The camera is a fantastic machine. Filmmakers Axel Danielson & Maximilien Van Aertryck (Ten Meter Tower, Jobs For All!) once again turn their cameras directly on society, this time to explore, explain and expose how our unchecked obsession with image has grown to change our human behavior. From Camera Obscura and the Lumieres Brothers all the way to Youtube and the world of social media, the film chronicles how we went from capturing the image of a backyard to a multi-billion- euro content industry in just 200 years. With an exclusive use of archival and found footage, the film uses the very medium it examines, in a self-reflective yet hilarious montage