TECHNOLOGY AND ME
Screening Details
Date: Saturday - October 19, 2024
Time: 7:05 PM​
Duration: 83 MINS
Venue: Cinemark Theater
1670 US-22, Watchung, NJ 07069
Block Description
Our screens are mirrors. As we scroll, swipe, and click, we become permeated with often conflicting ideas of what it means to be. We question whether we are pretty enough, smart enough, or strong enough to exist in this world. These films unpack our entanglement with technology, revealing how the same tools we use to assert and express ourselves can manipulate our perceptions, identities, and even our realities. Yet, like any reflection, we have the power to decide what we see and, ultimately, who we choose to be.
Dir. C.T. Robert / 26 minutes
Living somewhere between a live performance, music video and narrative, this experimental film satirizes our experience as consumers of American media. Following the experience of a young girl, we watch as her self-worth begins to falter while watching a MTV Unplugged-inspired television broadcast. As the broadcast progresses, we watch as their media consumption begins to spread like a virus, eating away at our young protagonist's self-esteem, with surreal results.
Dir. Nesha Jackson / 11 minutes
A member of Club Oda - an underground cult of "One Piece" extremists - kidnaps and rehabilitates his girlfriend after date night, doesn’t go as planned.
Amber Alert
Dir. Dion Suleman / 7 minutes
Amber Alert is a thought-provoking narrative that follows a technology-obsessed teenager, deeply engrossed in his phone, oblivious to the urgent notifications he's been ignoring all day. With his phone on the brink of dying, he orders a car share ride home but remains distracted, inadvertently boarding the very vehicle at the center of an Amber Alert. The story highlights the consequences of our society's fixation on technology, urging us to remain vigilant and engaged with the world beyond our screens, underscoring the need for mindfulness in an increasingly digitized world.
Dir. Yoaspire / 16 minutes
Two young film producers have opposing views on using AI to make scripts. Their divergent decisions cause permanent effects on their lives.
Dir. Parker Croft / 22 minutes
On the eve of her late son’s birthday, LILA attends a group meeting for people addicted to Amesten, a new blackmarket drug that gives its users life-like dreams about the ones they've lost. Although the drug has exacted a terrible toll on her, her sobriety still only hangs by a thread. As she prepares to celebrate BODIE’s birthday with her brother KIERAN, the temptation to see Bodie again begins to overwhelm her and she must choose whether to finally let go of an impossible dream or follow the light of her life into darkness.