Space references

"PENUMBRA focuses on the notion of what happens »after us«. Looking back from a distant, imagined future upon the post-Anthropocene – the aftermath of significant human influence on our planet – the film addresses this problematic relationship between humans and their impact on Earth. Humankind appears to have left for good. A computer-generated visualization introduces us to their new territory, where they’re found trying their luck on a faraway planet, the desert plains congested with urbanization. But once again, failure prospers and only some frantically built space settlements seem to grant shelter. On the planet’s surface, abandoned megacities linger within the dystopian landscape whilst artificial circular plantations lurk at their peripheries, nourishing their last inhabitants.PENUMBRA originates from a film work, planned as a visual backdrop for Robert Schumann’s oratorio, Scenes from Goethe’s Faust, at the opera houses in Antwerp, Ghent, and Montpellier."

© Text Ellen Lapper