Easily one of the most-anticipated films of the 2016 Sundance Film Festival line-up is a new documentary from a solidified master in the field: Werner Herzog. Marking his first feature-length non-fiction film in a half-decade — since the the profound, intimate death row documentary Into the Abyss — his new feature is titled Lo and Behold Reveries of the Connected World.
Exploring the effects of the Internet on our culture and connection, according to the Sundance synopsis, the director “documents a treasure trove of interviews of strange and beguiling individuals—ranging from Internet pioneers to victims of wireless radiation, whose anecdotes and reflections weave together a complex portrait of our brave new world.”
Ahead of a premiere exactly three weeks from today, check out the first trailer below.
Update: See a second trailer below.
Society depends on the Internet for nearly everything but rarely do we step back and recognize its endless intricacies and unsettling omnipotence. From the brilliant mind of Werner Herzog comes his newest vehicle for exploration, a playful yet chilling examination of our rapidly interconnecting online lives.
Herzog documents a treasure trove of interviews of strange and beguiling individuals—ranging from Internet pioneers to victims of wireless radiation, whose anecdotes and reflections weave together a complex portrait of our brave new world. Herzog describes the Internet as “one of the biggest revolutions we as humans are experiencing,” and yet he tempers this enthusiasm with horror stories from victims of online harassment and Internet addiction.
For all of its detailed analysis, this documentary also wrestles with profound and intangible questions regarding the Internet’s future. Will it dream, as humans do, of its own existence? Can it discover the fundamentals of morality, or perhaps one day understand the meaning of love? Or will it soon cause us—if it hasn’t already—more harm than good?
Lo and Behold Reveries of the Connected World premieres on January 23rd at Sundance.