Poznámky z Eremocénu

Life has become lonely for the human species in the Eremocene. The age of loneliness is characterised by natural destruction, a global loss of biodiversity and the dominance of the technosphere over the biosphere. This is where this playfully dystopian sci-fi essay starts out: digital technologies have conquered the world; the realm of data, from blockchain, to Bitcoin to DAO democracy, is huge and uncontrollable. Two accounts can be heard in voiceover – one generated by AI (artificial intelligence) and one belonging to a post-human virtual being searching for its earlier self, that of the filmmaker herself. Diary-like images of yesteryear appear on the planetary grid, beach scenes, people wearing masks in public places, Christmas lights and climate activists. The Super-8 and 16-mm footage competes with raster graphics, coloured pixels and spectacular clouds of points in 3D, which are overlaid with keyword matrices in turn. There is interference. And questions regarding non-human actors and mortality are posed. Back in time, Nick Cave sings a blues song. Who cares what the future brings? The Eremocene is the present. (Birgit Kohler)

Production Matej Sotnik. Production company GUČA films (Bratislava, Slovak Republic). Director Viera Čákanyová. Screenplay Viera Čákanyová, Klára Tasovská. Cinematography Viera Čákanyová. Editing Viera Čákanyová, Alexandra Gojdičová. Sound design Marek Buranovský. Sound Viera Čákanyová. Co-producer Nina Numankadić, Tatiana Vallová, Roman Gensk´y. Commissioning editor Ondrej Starinský. Executive producer Dorota Zacharová. Co-production Marina Films, Radio and Television of Slovakia.

World sales Marina Films

Viera Čákanyová, born in Bratislava, Czechoslovakia (now Slovakia) in 1980, she studied scriptwriting and film. In addition to directing her own films, she also works as a script consultant and editor for independent films. Her film FREM was screened at the Berlinale Forum in 2020.

Films: 2006: Under Underground (18 min.). 2007: Piraňa / Piranha (26 min.), Červi / Worms (13 min.). 2009: 100 dní / 100 Days (22 min.), Alda (52 min.). 2011: Olda (80 min.), Update (45 min.). 2014: Letiací kôň / Flying Horse (part of the film project Gottland, 30 min.), Rupicapra (part of the film project Slovakia 2.0, 10 min.). 2019: FREM (73 min.). 2020: Biela na bielej / White on White (74 min.). 2023: Poznámky z Eremocénu / Notes from Eremocene.

Bonus Material