Cinema Ecologica

The first episode of Cinema Ecologica is dedicated to films that depict our fear of an inundated future, yet also conjure up alternative worlds. Films such as Waterworld (1995), The Shape of Water (2017), Plan Delta (1989) and Beasts of the Southern Wild (2012) showcase water’s power with all the mythical, horrific and dystopian connotations you can imagine.

Of paramount importance is how fiction can increase awareness of the Anthropocene’s consequences – the era during which mankind has destructively bent the earth to its will.

The second episode of Cinema Ecologica focuses on the romantic experience of nature.

Vincent Rietveld will be visiting Eye to demonstrate how to make a climate-neutral, touring theatre production and Italian eco-philosopher Emanuele Coccia, author of the internationally renowned ‘The Life of Plants’, will be talking about ecological awareness to accompany a film made by the Flatform collective about the oldest tree in Italy.

The third episode of Cinema Ecologica focuses on cinematographic visions of the future.

In 'Whose is the Future?', filmmakers, artists and philosophers examine the theme of 'eco-science fiction': how has the story about the relationship between humans and nature evolved over the past fifty years?

Cinema Ecologica's fourth edition is a critical-humorous programme about how the consequences of human greed have been portrayed by filmmakers. With classics such as Koyaanisqatsi and The Wolf of Wall Street, specials on sustainable fashion, and discussions with artists and scientists.

Luxury department store De Bijenkorf was famed for it: the Drie Dwaze Dagen ('Three Daffy Days') when shoppers could nab the bargains of the year. This festival of (discounted) consumption, which you could see as the high mass of capitalism, was tremendously popular.

Feature films, short films and artist films in which – stylised, straightforward or puzzling – the man-made depletion and pollution of the earth are discussed. The selection is wide: the programme includes Godfrey Reggio's classic Koyaanisqatsi (1982), Pripyat (2016) by Nikolaus Gyerhalter, George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead (1978), Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street (2014) and Jia Zhang-ke's Still Life (2006).

The unimaginable as (almost) reality. On 13 January 2018, the 1.6 million residents of Hawaii were startled by a text message about an imminent nuclear attack. The VR On the Morning You Wake (to the End of the World) by Mike Brett, Steve Jamison, Arnaud Colinart and Pierre Zandrowicz lets you experience the chilling 38 minutes that recipients experienced before receiving the redeeming message that it was a false alarm. In Eye 14 through 23 October.