The Future of Attention, with Kamal Aljafari

Published: Aug. 19, 2022, 7:28 p.m.

b"At this year's Locarno Film Festival, Film Comment Co-Deputy Editor Devika Girish participated in a fascinating experimental event called \\u201cThe Future of Attention\\u201d, curated by Rafael Dernbach, a researcher at the Universita della Svizzera italiana. A continuous 24-hour live talk moderated by three hosts\\u2014including Devika\\u2014and involving a new guest each hour, the event began at noon on August 10 and went on all the way to noon on August 11. Attendees were invited to sit, lounge, or even sleep in the audience as and when they wished. The idea was to not just discuss the workings of attention in contemporary film and media culture, but also to actively experience and challenge the various forms our attention may take over a sustained period of time.\\xa0\\n\\nOver the next two weeks, we\\u2019ll be sharing excerpts from Devika's hosting shift at the event, which featured some exciting guests: filmmakers Helena Wittmann and Kamal Aljafari; curator Giovanni Carmine; this year's Golden Leopard\\u2013winner, Julia Murat; artist Hito Steyerl; and scholars Kevin B. Lee and Noa Levin, among others. Today's episode features Aljafari, who discusses his new short, Paradiso XXXI, 108, and the ways in which his filmmaking draws attention to what he calls the \\u201ccamera of the dispossessed.\\u201d"