FRAGMENT ZONE (in development)
   writer & director & producer
directed by:  ollie paterson
supported by:  Sattelite films, BAK basecamp for tactical imaginaries
awards/screenings: tbc

In 2012, an absurd conspiracy theory, incubated online in hazy 4chan message boards, later goes on to infect mainstream newspapers and take root in the global psyche. On December 21st, a meteor would hit Earth and wipe out all electronics, and fry the brains of all the homosexuals on the planet. Or at least, that is what Phoebe is told by her best friend, Shelly, at school, in the sleepy seaside town of Skegness, England. She is 12 years old and is usually only interested in two things: Shelly, and a video game called Fragment Zone - a sci-fi life simulation game where any dream scenario can be built with red and blue polygons.

The night of the 21st, the light from the game fills the room - Phoebe knows she’s queer and she is panicked. She resolves to climb out of her bedroom window and finally tell Shelly that she is in love with her, in case this really is the end. With one leg out the window, she sees glitter falling from the sky, followed by a sound like the guts of a thunderstorm – the meteor bursts through the clouds, and the light from the TV screen gets brighter until it swallows her up. She is transported into the Fragment Zone.

Guided by the rules of the game which push her in queer directions of pain, euphoria and desire, she navigates an uncanny digital world, living multiple lifetimes with Shelly. She slips erratically into her past and their future, as living rooms turn inside out, rings of fire appear in the back garden, and an illuminated figure haunts her like a siren.
FRAGMENT ZONE | artist film | English

ollie paterson