“Utopia in Four Movements”

Throughout human history, people have had giddy dreams and fantastic notions about what the future would bring: space travel, peace, and a world of plenty are just a few. But as the 20th Century progressed, the future became more threatening than promising — as a wave of intractable problems loomed menacingly on the horizon. Utopia in Four Movements uses the collective experience of cinema to explore the battered state of the utopian impulse at the dawn of the 21st Century. How did we get here? And where are we going?

In this “live documentary,” filmmaker Sam Green cues a stunning pastiche of still and moving images and vignettes and recites in-person a poetic, entertaining, and poignant essay while musician Dave Cerf constructs a live soundtrack of samples and loops, with a lyrical score by the band The Quavers. Each performance is a singular live and emotional experience.

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