DESIGNING THE FUTURE

Speculative ideas about societal orders, tensions between the future and the present as portrayed in science fiction – all this is the theme of a film and lecture series organised by Heidelberg University’s Institute for European Art History in cooperation with the GLORIA art film cinema in the 2023/2024 winter semester. The series, entitled “Designing the future: visions of society between utopia and dystopia”, has been organised by art historians Prof. Dr Henry Keazor and Dr Alexandra Vinzenz, and combines the projection of selected films with an introductory presentation. The total of five events aim to interest an academic audience and also the broad public.

During the first event, on 15 November 2023, Henry Keazor and Alexandra Vinzenz will introduce the role of futuristic architecture for science fiction as a film genre on the example of Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” (1927). From the perspective of art history, they will give insights into the allegorical interpretations of the film during its history of reception. On 6 December 2023, Dr Marc Bonner will talk about the interplay between fictitious urban buildings and utopian and dystopian ideas about society. The starting point is Ridley Scott’s film “Blade Runner” (1982). The event on 10 January 2024 will focus on Franklin J. Schaffner’s film “Planet of the Apes” (1968). Dr Nils Daniel Peiler from the Kinemathek Hamburg will discuss not only the specific sets but also the evolution theory issues raised in the film. On 17 January 2024 Dr Rolf Sachsse comments on the Japanese animated film “Ghost in the Shell” (1995) by Mamoru Oshii. Concluding the series, Dr Bruno Grimm, art historian at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, will talk about Steven Spielberg’s film “Minority Report” (2002), which deals with the impacts of social surveillance and control mechanisms