Behind the Screen casts a formidable glance behind the facade of the electronics industry where 7 computers are produced a second. Behind the Screen reveals the people behind the important electronic product and thereby illustrates the links of our decentralized economic system, which are difficult to grasp based on real life processes. Behind the Screen vividly shows the phases a computer passes through its life span, literally from birth to death: Gold mining in West Africa, electronics manufacturing by migrant workers in the Czech Republic, the use of computer products in the rich western world and their final disposal in the electronic waste dumps of Ghana. The real story of high tech globalisation and disposable culture.
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Almost all objects we use, whether consciously or unconsciously, are made by persons with their own individual subjectivity anonymous to us. This ‘transcendence of another person’ also means that we are not aware that the person who provides us with these services ultimately exists. Behind the Screen tries to personalize these people. With the cinematic tools an insight into the intricate links of a decentralized economic system in terms of real life processes should succeed. Through the introduction of the ‘personal computer’ and of laptops the computer industry witnessed a rapid boom. Since the beginning of the 21st century a world without computers for education, business and the private sector is no longer imaginable. The global consequences of computers are difficult to detect despite their importance in the global information society. Besides all of the advantages of use the manufacturing process also accounts for a cycle of social injustices and ecological burdens.
Stefan Baumgartner, Director
Recommended rating: Cert 12.
