Wondering what a dystopian future might look like?
Greek Australian filmmaker Kosta Nikas offers his take with 'Utopia' at the 26th Athens International Film Festival.
Last year, the dystopian flick was voted by the Jury as the Best International Narrative Short at the Santa Fe Independent Film Festival and Best Comedy at Toronto Shorts Film Festival.
UTOPIA is the story of a man returning to his country after decades abroad only to find a heartless society where there is more freedom inside prison than outside it. Desperate, but unable to escape, the act of one brave woman gives him his freedom.
In UTOPIA homes and cars have government cameras that fine their occupants; alcohol and smoking is illegal; citizens fine fellow citizens for the slightest offence with their mobile phones in exchange for a commission from the said infringements; the use of beaches, parks, and other public spaces are dictated by regulated times and dates and anyone with a mortgage or any debts cannot travel outside the country. Sound familiar??
“I wanted to make a film for this zeitgeist; respond to the mobile phone obsession and technological invasion which is often misused at the expense of our privacy, freedom, human dignity and environment,” says writer- director Kosta Nikas.
The must see short film is now competing at the 26th Athens International Film Festival.
Those in Athens can watch 'Utopia' tonight, Thursday 24th September, 2020.
Details:
- What: 'Utopia'
- When: 24 September, at 19.30
- Where: Open air Cine Αθηναία
- Tickets: http://www.aiff.gr/ellinikes_mikres_istories.../arthro//
- Facebook: UTOPIA
