Asif Kapadia is one of the rare filmmakers who has earned equal respect as director of documentaries and feature films. His resume speaks for itself with films such as The Warrior, Senna, Amy, and most recently Federer: Twelve Final Days, released earlier this summer. Now Kapadia bridges the gap between the two forms with the genre-bending film, 2073, which serves as a dire warning about the future.
As seen in the new trailer, 2073 doesn’t present itself as a straight documentary, but a work of speculative nonfiction. Samantha Morton, Naomi Ackie, and Hector Hewer feature in the story set in a dystopian future of our own making, caused by our actions in the present. Issues we’re facing right now, such as the rise of fascism, the loss of privacy rights and increase in surveillance technology, the spread of misinformation and disinformation, and climate change inaction all lead to a dark reality. Along with the acting performances, there are interviews with real-life experts intercut with archival footage of the chaos spreading around the world.
In an official statement, Kapadia describes what inspired him to do this move:
“‘2073’ is about a feeling of dread at what is happening and being normalised around the world. The film started after seeing Brexit happen through lies and corruption in the UK, I felt I had to make a film to understand why the world seemed to be moving towards lies, authoritarianism, violence. I interviewed journalists around the world, was I going crazy, or was something happening? The journalists agreed, there was a global trend, a democratic recession, technology played a huge part and this was also aiding the destruction of the planets ecosystem. ‘2073’ has come out of those interviews and research. My aim was to connect the dots between many complex issues and countries in a single cinematic film.”
And here’s the official synopsis: It’s the year 2073, and the worst fears of modern life have been realized. Surveillance drones fill the burnt orange skies and militarized police roam the wrecked streets, while survivors hide away underground, struggling to remember a free and hopeful existence. In this ingenious mixture of visionary science fiction and speculative nonfiction, Academy Award-winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia (Amy) transports us to a future foreshadowed by the terrifying realities of our present moment. Two-time Academy Award nominee Samantha Morton (In America, Sweet and Lowdown, Minority Report) plays a survivor besieged by nightmare visions of the past-a past that happens to be our present, visualized through contemporary footage interconnecting today’s global crises of authoritarianism, unchecked big tech, inequality, and global climate change. 2073 is an urgent, unshakable vision of a dystopic future that could very well be our own.
2073 will have its world premiere today at the Venice Film Festival, and will be released later by NEON.
