Film screening with introduction
#CreativeAI: Film & AI - Fassbinder's "World on a Wire"

Film and Artificial Intelligence

Sat, 20.03.2021
1:45 PM - 18:00 ACMI

World on a Wire
Germany | 1973 | 210 min | colour
Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder
Camera: Michael Ballhaus

World on a Wire is Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s 1973 science fiction exploration of a computer-generated world. Originally premiering on German television as a mini-series, the film is an adaptation of Daniel F. Galouye’s 1964 science fiction novel Simulacron-3. The premise is of a corporation that develops a computer capable of simulating an alternate dimension and transferring human consciousness into this new virtual reality. World on a Wire substantially inspired the makers of the film-series The Matrix, which was produced almost 30 years later. 
 



The plot: 

The most important project at the Institute for Cybernetics and Futurology is Simulacron 1 - an electronic monster designed to take conventional computer technology to a new level. Once it has become operational, Simulacron will be able to predict social, economic and political processes of the future as accurately as if they were taking place here and now, as if they were reality. Thus, Simulacron can be used for the improvement of future living conditions or for much darker and more self-serving purposes. Initiator and leader of the research project is Professor Vollmer (Adrian Hoven). He dies under mysterious circumstances - it is quickly agreed that he committed suicide, as he showed signs of a strange mental confusion shortly before his death. Siskins (Karl Heinz Vosgerau), all-powerful head of the institute, makes Dr. Stiller (Klaus Löwitsch) his successor, the closest colleague of the deceased. But soon the colleagues also register strange symptoms in Stiller....
 
Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s World on a Wire is a treasure of the science fiction genre. The iconic 214-minute film offers a daring and timeless cinematic experience that will leave you questioning reality. This sci-fi epic is a hidden gem from futures past and a must-see for Fassbinder fans and sci-fi lovers. 

This screening will be introduced by Claudia Sandberg, film scholar at the University of Melbourne who will reflects on the history of technology and AI in cinema.

This event is being presented as part of our Kulturtechniken 4.0 - Creativity in the age of AI program. Please head to our website for more exciting events: www.goethe.de/creativeAI

The film will be shown in two parts with the schedule running as follows:
Part 1: 1:45pm
Interval: 3:40pm
Part 2: 4:15pm
End 6:00pm