About

Breaking the frame: resisting technology in the digital age

Following the success of CRASSH’s anniversary film festival in 2021, we are delighted to announce the 2022 film festival, devised in collaboration with the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy.

Submissions of feature films, documentaries and experimental art films that engage with resistance to digital technology and ideas for alternatives to the current digital monopoly system are now welcome. Successful submissions will be shown at the film festival in the autumn of 2022.

We are keen to engage a broader audience in a dialogue about the neo-luddites, non-believers and critical minds that reject today’s technological fantasies to imagine a better world without the all-powerful techno monopolies that have privatised our communication, desires, and everyday lives. While most recent tech critique ends up with suggestions on regulation, in this film festival we would want to explore creatively two other modes of critical engagement with technology that sometimes go together with regulation but often go far beyond it: resistance and recoding.

What have been the key recent and not-so-recent thinkers and activist movements to resist computational capitalism? Who inspires neo-luddites, strike leaders, and free software champions? What are their principles? And equally importantly: how do they fight to achieve their goals? Is there an AI underground?

  • Theme: Breaking the frame: resisting technology in the digital age
  • When: The film festival will take place in autumn 2022
  • Where: The Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH), University of Cambridge
  • Submission deadline: 15 July 2022 
  • Cost: submission is free
  • Format for submissions: Please supply a link to Youtube/Vimeo/website where the film can be viewed online.
  • Format for screening: Films should be supplied in an MP4 container in either 16:9, 16:10 or 4:3 ratio, this includes material that has been converted from analogue film.
  • How: Submissions are now closed
  • Notification date: early September 2022
  • Questions? Email enquiries@crassh.cam.ac.uk

 

Supported by the Minderoo Centre for Technology and Democracy, and the Centre for the GeoHumanities, Royal Holloway University.

 

Centre for GeoHumanities logo

Competition terms and conditions

The Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (CRASSH) at the University of Cambridge retains the right to use excerpts of any submissions to promote the competition online, or the anniversary celebrations more widely.

The submitter must have the legal authority to submit the work. By submitting, the submitter confirms that the work is theirs and that they have all the necessary rights for sharing in this way.

By submitting their work all entrants are deemed to have read and agreed the rules and regulations governing the competition. In the event of any disagreement, the interpretation of the CRASSH selection panel will take precedence.

All entries will be anonymised prior to selection.

CRASSH reserves the right to withdraw selected works from the competition.

It is the responsibility of the submitter to ensure the correct contact email address is supplied.

By entering this competition, you are consenting for your work to be included in this film festival, other online, digital and print media, on our websites and social media and other possible communication platforms, at any time.

GDPR: No personal details of participants will remain with CRASSH after the film festival.

Participants included in the film festival have the right to ask for their work to be removed from screening at any time by contacting CRASSH.

CENTRE FOR RESEARCH IN THE ARTS, SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

Tel: +44 1223 766886
Email enquiries@crassh.cam.ac.uk