Petropolis: Aerial Perspectives on the Alberta Tar Sands/ Cobra Mist/ Deep Weather

Before:
Cobra Mist Emily Richardson, 2008. cinematography: John Adderley; music: Benedict Drew. DCP (from 16mm), colour, 7 min
Deep Weather Ursula Biemann, CH 2013. DCP, colour, 9 min. English ☼

The world's second-largest oil reserve, roughly the size of England, was created beneath the unspoilt boreal forests of northern Canada. The tar sands are mined in open pits after being forced to the surface by injecting superheated water into the ground. This massive, industrialised extraction has far-reaching effects on the land, the air, the water and the climate. Peter Mettler's film, shot primarily from a helicopter, offers an unparalleled view of a dehumanised world that can only be understood from a bird's eye view. The tar sands in Alberta are also the starting point for Ursula Biemann's video essay Deep Weather, in which she shows that the aggressive exploitation of fossil fuels not only has an impact on the local environment and society, but also contributes to global climate change. In Cobra Mist, Emily Richardson uses cinematographic means to explore the links between the dystopian-looking coastal landscape of Orford Ness and the decaying military facilities where the British Ministry of Defence carried out secret tests to develop nuclear weapons decades ago. (Jurij Meden / Andrea Pollach)

Lena Violetta Leitner (artist) in conversation with Michael Wagreich (University of Vienna)

Photo: Austrian Film Museum