Black Box

The event that, without a doubt, marked the beginning of the new century in popular consciousness and serves as a landmark for the mass media is 9/11. Asselberghs’ film questions why we should want to embark into the new century with such a destructive and spectacular image, and proposes to opt for a more redemptive and emancipatory moment with little spectacle value but more political potential: 2/15/2003, the day the world protested against the US government’s decision to invade Iraq. At the crossroads of poetry and politics, Asselberghs’ film urges us to consider the many implications of media images in our society, and to imagine what the possibilities for an alternative media landscape could be.