Kurzfilmprogramm: Chewing the Phone Archive

What if our cell phone archive is history even before it is lost? How can memory work emerge from a cell phone archive? What do collected snapshots from our lives and everyday life tell us about the situation of a society?

Inspired by Anna Spanlang's experimental and queer-feminist filmmaking, students of theater, film and media studies spent a semester immersing themselves in their own cell phone archives. They discussed the connection of this archive to community and (pop) culture and explored the subversive potential of cell phone videos. They also questioned the extent to which the recording of certain moments not only documents them, but also actively shapes them.

Their own experimental cinematic experiments emerged from the debate, in which the complex issues are condensed. Travel videos, concert recordings, party impressions and artistic interventions are combined with more everyday situations. From lively scenes to contemplative shots of nature: The combinations of the diverse short videos created new levels of meaning and possible associations. A homage to the cell phone archive as a personal diary as well as a time capsule that not only captures the essence of a certain period of time, but also provides insights into the collective experience of a generation. (Katharina Müller)

With works by Hannah Walter, Hannah Hiltensperger, Luka Kühn, Kristin Kritzinger, Ilkyaz Salmanli, Elena Kracker, Roslana Tsvetanova, Aristotelis Goetzloff

Photo: Austrian Film Museum