Screen/Society--Deborah Stratman: "Last Things" (2023) and "On the Various Nature of Things" (1995)

Film screening:

"Last Things"
(Deborah Stratman, 2023, 50 min, USA, DCP)

Evolution and extinction from the point of view of rocks and various future others. The geo-biosphere is introduced as a place of evolutionary possibility, where humans disappear but life endures.

"[F]loods the screen with a stream of extraordinary images, colours and shapes that are as visually captivating as they are intellectually detonating." - Sukhdev Sandhu, Prospect Magazine

"[T]he film in actuality is a gorgeous, almost dystopian exploration of history as a geological survey." - Joshua Brunsting, CriterionCast

Preceded by short film: "On the Various Nature of Things"
(Deborah Stratman, 1995, 25min, 16mm)

A 24-figure exploration of the natural forces at work in the world, based on Scottish physicist Michael Faraday's 1859 Christmas lectures to the public. The film literally, metaphorically and whimsically reinterprets scientific convention to illustrate physical concepts.