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In “Amy,” Asif Kapadia’s Oscar-winning gut-punch about pop icon Amy Winehouse (and to a lesser extent in biographical docs “Senna” and “Diego Maradona” too), the British director employs an emotional rhythm by which his subject’s tragic end seems foredestined right from the start. Perhaps “2073,” his new hybrid docufiction is a natural expansion of that impulse — a blend of archival footage, CG enhancement and speculative fiction that applies similar retroactive dismay to a cautionary tale about a near-future dystopia, and the current rising tide of everything-is-terrible that may bring it about.

Unfortunately, what is highly effective as a biographical rise-and-fall tactic is far less so as a means to make a grand statement about imminent societal collapse. It’s not clear quite who is going to be galvanized into action to avert catastrophe when according to “2073,” almost everything that will lead to civilization’s demise — from AI to climate...

2073, writer-director Asif Kapadia’s sui generis feature, is nothing if not ambitious. It offers viewers a numbingly bleak vision of the future 51 years from now, illustrated by a fictional framing device starring Samantha Morton, then explains how things got/will get that bad through actual recent archival footage and original interviews with an assortment of thinkers, journalists and activists. By comparison, George Orwell’s classic dystopian novel 1984 looks as jolly as a Peppa Pig picture book.

You can’t help but admire Kapadia’s commitment to feel-bad cinema, his refusal to end on any false note of hope. It’s all part of a deliberate strategy, according to an interview in the film’s press notes, to motivate the audience to do something, anything, to stop all this happening. But given how sinister the forces sowing the seeds of our future destruction are — rising autocracy, unregulated technology and looming climate...

Despite having a wealth of experience directing narrative film and television with the likes of Mindhunter and The Warrior, Asif Kapadia is almost definitely best known for his work as a documentarian on films such as Amy, Senna, Diego Maradona, and, most recently, tennis close-up Federer: Twelve Final Days. With his latest directorial effort however, sci-fi thriller 2073, Kapadia is looking to cross the streams, blurring the boundaries between narrative and non-fiction filmmaking to paint a sobering portrait of the dystopia that awaits us if we continue on our current post-Brexit, present Putin and Trump and Milei spearheaded course. Led by Samantha Morton, Naomi Ackie, and Hector Hewie, 2073 — if the fascinating first trailer is anything to go by — looks quite unlike anything else we've seen this year. Check it out below:

Wildfires, surveillance drones, riots, and an Elon Musk jump scare set the scene for Kapadia's newest movie, which boldly asserts...

“2073” can’t come soon enough.

The upcoming feature, distributed by Neon and inspired by Chris Marker’s influential “La Jetée” (which was also the basis for Terry Gilliam’s “12 Monkeys”), imagines a bleak future world, using footage and interviews from our present to drive the point home.

You can watch the first trailer for Asif Kapadia’s hybrid feature, combining non-fiction and fiction elements, below:

“2073,” which premieres out of competition (in the non-fiction category) this week at the Venice Film Festival, stars Samantha Morton and Naomi Ackie in a narrative that features time travel, alongside talking head interviews with Maria Ressa, Carole Cadwalladr, Rana Ayyub and Ben Rhodes.

It’s a fascinating (and extremely depressing) conceit that will see director Kapadia, who has helmed documentaries like “Senna” and “Amy” but also narrative projects like episodes of David Fincher’s “Mindhunter,” combine two disciplines in exciting and unique ways.

Though known for narrative features like “The Warrior” and his work on the Netflix series “Mindhunter,” as well as biographical documentaries “Senna” and “Amy,” Asif Kapadia aims to bridge the gap between these two forms with his latest project, “2073.” Featuring performances from actors Samantha Morton, Naomi Ackie, and Hector Hewer intercut with “archival footage” of our present day and interviews with real-world figures Maria Ressa, Carole Cadwalladr, Rana Ayyub, Ben Rhodes, and many others, this self-described “warning” presents our possible dystopian future, as well as the road we took to get there.

The official synopsis read, “Kapadia’s genre-bending documentary set in the future tackles the biggest challenges endangering our present. ‘2073’ is a ‘true sci-fi’ horror. A warning of the world we will get if we don’t act now. Ghost lives off-grid in a dystopian New San Francisco in the year 2073. The world is controlled by Libertarians,...

New Delhi, March 27 (Ians) The Dharamshala International Film Festival (Diff) will launch its year-round programme for 2021 online with the 'Diff Virtual Viewing Room: Films from the Oscar Season' for one week from April 2 to April 8 in collaboration with Gratitude Films Inc.

This selection of six films, curated by Anu Rangachar, are the official entries to the 2021 Oscars with some of them being shortlisted and nominated.

The lineup includes 'Apples', 'Atlantis', 'The Dissident', 'Night of the Kings', 'Quo Vadis, Aida?', and 'Two of Us'.

The question and answer sessions will include a conversation between journalist Rana Ayyub and Oscar winning director Bryan Fogel, writer and film critic Aseem Chhabra in conversation with Greek director Christos Nikou.

Talking about the collaboration, Rangachar, who launched her company during the pandemic, said, "I am excited to be collaborating towards this programme of the Diff Virtual Viewing Room...