2013. The documentary centres around the struggles of artists to convey ‘the essence’ of events, without distorting their message. It looks at how artists have been using various mediums to portray situations, people and political systems in an attempt to help the public better connect with the international through games, poetry, films, interactive events and orally communicated stories.
From the exiled Iranian born poet Ali Abdolrezai, to Jacob Joyce’s Yoruba inspired stories and finally Frontier’s attempt to transplant gamers into the world of border crossing: all provide human experiences through existing platforms, which cannot or are not adequately portrayed in popular conceptions of the social and international world we live in.
The film will begin with an account of publishing and mainstream media, as told through the eyes of Aljazeera editor in chief Russell Merriman and foreign correspondent Jason Walsh among others. It will then tail off, and explore how alternative mediums have become platforms for discussing the invisible, and for helping bring the public back from a state of amnesia surrounding issues such as race, border crossing and politics.
By William Bloomfield