SYNOPSIS
An amateur archaeologist obsessed with electronic waste records images and sounds for ten years, as part of an intuitive investigation. As he shapes a personal, playful and musical diary, he travels the world tirelessly, trying to decipher what his findings hide and how he might interpret them. One day, in a workshop recycling electronic objects, a strange revelation happens. From that moment on, his search takes an unexpected turn and, following the trail of a ghost poet, new questions appear.
REVIEW
The New Ruins is the culmination of a decade-long archaeological quest to document e-waste in Buenos Aires. This research takes the form of a humorous and rhythmic diary that transcends borders and archives. The film probes profound questions: What is the relationship between technology and memory? Is history permanently preserved in digital circuits? These inquiries unfold amidst a panorama of broken screens, stray wires, old monitors, and obsolete devices that populate both the mundane and the bizarre. The New Ruins meditates on an era where our lives have become increasingly dependent on digital electronics and their appendages. This audiovisual rollercoaster of digital detritus is a reflection on memory, environmental crisis, and overproduction, seeking meaning in the traces of modern fossils. Argentine visual artist and filmmaker Manuel Embalse, an amateur archaeologist obsessed with e-waste, both directs and stars in the film. Since 2013, he has been meticulously collecting and documenting technological refuse, creating an extensive archive with video notes and numbered items. While Embalse uses electronic debris as a form of memory, he also raises concerns about the environmental impact of our digital dependency. He notes that 85% of lithium - derived from the Greek word "lithion" meaning "little stone" - used in cell phones, e-bikes, and more, comes from Latin America. The New Ruins is a fascinating essay film that questions how future history will be written in an era of environmental crisis, overproduction, and accelerating consumption. It challenges us to reconsider our relationship with technology and its lasting impact on our world.
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
E-waste as a trace of the present began to generate my curiosity in 2012. That year, I got my first cellphone with camera included. I became an archivist of my own everyday images and sounds in relation to technology and memory. Over time, those images and sounds began to be joined by scraps of technological junk that I began to secretly collect. I began to catalog the material until the present day, twelve years later, and little by little, it became a film: The New Ruins.
CONTACT
Antes Muerto Cine
antesmuertocine@gmail.com