Song for the Cosmos (2027)
dop/ creative producer
directed by: edwin mingard & geo barcan
supported by: Nederlands Film Fonds, v2 lab for unstable media, CBK Rotterdam, Mondriaan fonds
produced by: GROM, Amsterdam
awards/screenings: (tbc)
Song for the cosmos is a short artist film about a community and their relationship with a newly constructed, private spaceport. The film takes place on Unst, a small island located in the nothernmost point of the UK where a group of venture capitalists are funding Europe’s first vertical launch spaceport. The 600 people living in Unst are in an ancient entanglement with a unique land and sea ecosystem that withstood the many occupations starting from the Viking’s age until today. Told through the experiences of characters who grew up there, and who are contending with the spaceport’s arrival in different ways, the film explores themes of neocolonialism, ecology, extractivism, community and cosmology in a poetic, mythical and reflective way. This participatory, collaborative work uses elements of fiction, documentary, performance and animation to ask a fundamental question: What is progress? The film portrays the interwoven narratives of the people living on Unst, the history and voice of the island, a speculative future in the aftermath of the spaceport’s booming market along with fictionalised, performative scenes.
Song for the Cosmos | artist film | English