It was in a film class that I was introduced to ‘The Spectre of Hope’, four to five years ago. A teacher, tiring of our capitalist ways, promised that it would be an eye-opener. So we waited in the audio-video room, our eyes ready for an opening.
A 2002 documentary/conversation, between art critic and BBC presenter John Berger, and economist-turned-photographer Sebastião Salgado’s book ‘Migrations: Humanity in Transition”. The setting is Berger’s own house, amidst the impossibly picturesque backdrop of the Swiss alps. It’s a conversation, captured on camera.
What followed, was a curious case of a medium within a medium. Being media students, we were reminded constantly of Marshall McLuhan’s adage “medium is the message”.
So it is in this case. The Spectre of Hope can be timely and thought-provoking, irrespective of where you watch it. But the backdrop against which you do, matters.
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