“A mischievous piece of cultural criticism.” - Robert Daniels, RogerEbert.com
“In this bizarre decoupage, there’s a good mix of “campy”, anthropological research and fun, which may entice lovers of post-socialist nostalgia and trash TV.” - Davide Abbatescianni, Cineuropa
“Sharp, mesmerizing, and frequently hilarious…” - David Robb, Slant
Sometimes, the archive—and with it, experimental cinema—can be hilarious. EIGHT POSTCARDS FROM UTOPIA consists entirely of 1990s Romanian television commercials fragmented, collaged, and wittily analyzed by Christian Ferencz-Flatz and Radu Jude (who is frequently described as a latter-day Jean-Luc Godard). The very clumsiness of advertising in the country’s first decade after communism allows us to glimpse how desire is actively produced, then and now, for capitalist consumption.
Awards & Nominations
2024 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam – Special Mention, Beeld and Geluid IDFA ReFrame Award
2024 Locarno Film Festival – Official Selection
2024 São Paulo International Film Festival – Official Selection
Contact Zones: Cinema of Globalization, 1989–2024
Fall 2026 Lecture Series
“We might have come to the end of something,” Adam Curtis reflected recently, referring to "globalization," which began with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. But just how well do we know this world that we were, until recently, living in? Brief lectures before screenings and open discussions afterwards will cover background on local histories related to films in the series as well as theories of globalization, neoliberalism, migration, and digital culture. Presented in collaboration with the School of the Art Institute of Chicago’s Department of Art History, Theory, and Criticism. Lecturer: Professor Daniel R. Quiles. Select titles offered with Sunday encores; encores do not include lecture.
The Film Center is ADA accessible. This presentation will be projected without open captions. The theater is hearing-loop equipped. For accessibility requests, please email filmcenter@saic.edu