“The most compelling screening of the entire [2010 Sundance] festival. Utopia was not only utterly moving but a reminder that there is real power conjured through the irreplaceable and unreproducible experience of collectively watching cinema.” —Huffington Post
This provocative “live documentary” explores the concept of utopia in the contemporary world by presenting four vignettes on experiments of the past century— from the universal language of Esperanto to a “world’s largest” shopping mall in the remote city of Dongguan, China—in a multimedia cinematic experience. Academy Award–nominated director Sam Green offers live narration that cues a stirring pastiche of still and moving images as musician Dave Cerf mixes a live soundtrack of samples and loops. Brooklyn-based band the Quavers performs a lyrical score live. “Utopia represents a celebration of big dreams as well as an homage to cinema as collective experience and event… embodying hope, fashioning new possibilities from old dreams” (San Francisco International Film Festival).
