The building of the M11 Link Road in East London, using images and sounds of demolition and road building in conjunction with the spoken words of local residents. Made in collaboration with the composer Jocelyn Pook.

John Smith (London, England 1952). Studies at the Royal College of Art. 50+ films and media artworks since 1972; solo screenings at International Kurzfilmtage Oberhausen, Tampere Short Film Festival (Finland), etc; major group exhibitions at Venice Biennale, Tate Britain, etc. In permanent collections of Tate Gallery, Kunstmuseum Madgeburg, etc. Lives in London, England. Third appearance at Media City.

A voyage to the far west of Brazil leads to a monumental sculpture petrified at the centre of the savannah. Age of Stone imagines an alternate history inspired by the epic construction of the city of Brasilia. Following geological traces, the film unearths a legacy of exploration, prophecy and myth.

Brasilia belongs to a glorious past which no longer exists. That type of civilization disappeared thousands of years ago…

Ana Vaz (Brasilia, Brazil 1986). Studies at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (Australia) and at Le Fresnoy (Tourcoing, France). Three films since 2009; screenings at Curtas Vila do Conde (Portugal), Visions du Réel (Nyon, Switzerland), “Views from the Avant-garde” at the New York Film Festival, etc. Currently artist in residence at École de Beaux Arts in Lyon, France. First appearance at Media City.

The town of Utskor in northern Norway. Memories of a political past entwined with domestic, familial moments under a midnight sun.

Laida Lertxundi (Bilbao, Euskadi, Spain, 1981). Studies at Bard College and California Institute of the Arts. Eight films since 2007; screenings at numerous festivals including solo presentations at 2012 Whitney Biennial (New York), San Francisco Cinematheque, 25 FPS (Zagreb), etc. Currently lives in Los Angeles, California. First appearance at Media City.

A hypnosis-inducing pan-geographic shuttle built on brainwave-generating binaural beats. A journey from the ruins of an ancient civilization embedded in a modern civilization in ruins (Athens), through the derelict, anonymous buildings of Malta, to a site of post-civilization (the Gaza Strip). Shot while under self-hypnosis, this performance-film guides the corporeal into the cinema in an act of bilocation across limits of time and geographical borders

Basma Alsharif (Kuwait, 1983, to Palestinian parents). Studies at Mälmo Art Academy (Sweden) and the University of Illinois at Chicago. Nine films and videos since 2006; screenings at numerous festivals and at Manifesta 8 (Murcia, Spain), 9th Sharjah Biennial (UAE), Wexner Center for the Arts (Columbus), etc. Currently lives in Paris, France. Second appearance at Media City.

“John Frum prophesied the occurrence of a cataclysm in which Tanna would become flat, the volcanic mountains would fall and fill the riverbeds to form plains, and Tanna would be joined to the neighbouring islands of Eromanga and Aneityum to form a new island. Then John Frum would reveal himself, bringing in a reign of bliss, the natives would get back their youth and there would be no sickness; there would be no need to care for gardens, trees or pigs. The Whites would go.” — Peter Worsley, The Trumpet Shall Sound: A Study of Cargo Cults in Melanesia

Ben Russell (Somerset, England 1976). Studies at Brown University and The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. 30+ films since 1997; screenings include solo presentations at Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Museum of Modern Art (New York), etc; Guggenheim Fellowship (2008). Lives in Paris, France. Fourth appearance at Media City, festival Grand Prize in 2009.