religion

“Bardo” is a Buddhist term for the state between death and rebirth, when a person's consciousness leaves the body and seeks a new form. Viera Čákanyová had a similar experience during dark therapy. Her short experimental film is an attempt to translate this transcendental experience, an encounter with another dimension of being, into images and words that are understandable even to those who have not descended into their own subconscious. While colours flow and textures blend into abstract images generated by artificial intelligence, the soundtrack features ambient music and an associative stream of the director's thoughts and feelings. The metaphysical journey does not lead to clear answers. However, it opens up space for perceiving what transcends language, reason, and the common understanding of reality. “I can't decide between being and non-being, action and inaction. I have been stuck in this dilemma my whole life.” — quote from the movieBefore the screening on October 28 in the DIOD hall, there will be a launch of a new book by theorist Jana Dudková entitled Člověk na okrAI: Postantropocén Viery Čákanyovej. The book is published by the Slovak Film Institute's publishing department.

Death as non-existence, non-being, or the absence of life has been a subject of human interest for millennia. Poets, philosophers, prophets, and hermits have now been replaced by filmmakers, influencers, cryonicists, and evolutionary biologists in the search for the quintessence of life and death. Zoltan Istvan runs a cryonics laboratory and is running for president of the United States with the demand that immortality be included among fundamental human rights. In Russia, a mass festival dedicated to the cult of death is traditionally held. Dāvis Sīmanis' film essay reveals the twists and turns of man's age-old desire for eternal life. It uncovers the metaphorical and fetishistic representations of death and the mechanisms by which we come to terms with our own mortality. „Immortality, anti-aging, fear of death. When I started the film, I just thought I’d learn how to live a little bit longer. But then things got weird. Scientists reviving pigs at Yale. People sticking neurochips in their heads. Bio-hackers giving out life-extending tips. The whole civilization is living in the age of transhumanism. And I am the only one who is left behind.“ — Dāvis Sīmanis

Everything Works Out (In the End) tells the authentic story of a young woman who, out of economic necessity, decided to pay off her debts by working in the adult entertainment industry. What was meant to be a temporary solution ultimately becomes a defining chapter in her life. Sixteen years later, Katelyn seeks to change her life and reconnect with her faith; she begins working in a retirement home for aging Catholic priests and devotes herself to creative pursuits, like recording her first album, writing a book, and even taking up boxing. When, after a series of inexplicable disturbances, the Church declares her possessed by a demonic entity, Katelyn undergoes a series of exorcism sessions and a meditation on faith and redemption unfolds. Feeling the need to reconnect with her roots, she leaves Chicago and embarks on road trip across the United States towards her hometown in Massachusetts, during the last days before the 2024 presidential election. This intimate confession is intertwined with an analysis of America's political and cultural polarisation and explores how faith and creativity can shape a woman's extraordinary life experience.

A postcolonial voodoo ritual, cyclical in the hypnotic rhythm of time and pulsating fists, saturated with fire and water, interwoven with the East and West, is intended to win the favour of the Haitian goddess, Erzulie. It is also a prayer for the deceased ancestors who, along with other Haitian workers, were murdered in 1920 in the Cuban province of Holguín, in a sugar mill owned by a subsidiary of the American corporation, United Fruit Company.“You fought hard for your children. Now we are alone in this country.”