Is It Important to Treat the Virtual Experience and Virtual Platforms as Something Specific?

Welcome to the Film Comment Podcast! I'm Devika Girish, the Co-Deputy Editor of Film Comment. Recently, I was at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, where I participated in a fascinating experimental event called The Future of Attention, curated by Rafael Dernbach, a researcher at the Universita della Svizzera Italiana. It was a continuous 24-hour live talk, moderated by 3 hosts—including yours truly—and involving a new guest each hour. The event began at noon on August 10, and went on all the way to noon on August 11, with attendees invited to sit, lounge, or even sleep in the audience when they wished. The idea was not just to discuss the workings of attention in contemporary film and media culture but also to actively experience and challenge the various ways in which we pay attention over a sustained period of time. We hope you’ve been following along the last two weeks as we’ve shared excerpts from Devika’s hosting shift at the event, featuring conversations with filmmaker Helena Wittman, curator Giovanni Carmine, this year’s Golden Leopard–winner Julia Murat, and others. Next up is a very exciting guest: artist, filmmaker, and critic, Hito Steyerl, who talks about teaching on Minecraft during the pandemic, maintaining techno-optimisim in very pessimistic times, and the distinction between attention and voyeurism.