Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
For as long as there have been wars, there have been soldiers refusing to fight in them. The experimental short How to Disappear examines the history of military desertion via the online war video game Battlefield V (2018), drawing wry and provocative contrasts between digital and real-life combat. Created by the Austrian art collective Total Refusal, this thoughtful film also asks: what does it mean that you can’t desert within this computer-generated world? Unable to abandon the battlefield or surrender within Battlefield V, Total Refusal invents new and unusual forms of pacifistic disobedience for their user-controlled soldiers. Their imaginative tactics walk a thin line between trolling other players and challenging the frameworks and mores of this peculiar space. By putting aside the intended gameplay, the group explores muddy moral questions of play, patriotism and war in a society where lines between digital and real environments grow more blurred by the day. For more from Total Refusal’s Leonhard Müllner and Robin Klengel, watch Operation Jane Walk.
Directors: Robin Klengel, Leonhard Müllner, Michael Stumpf
Website: Total Refusal
video
Music
The peculiar beauty of a song caught between composition and improvisation
3 minutes
video
Rituals and celebrations
A beginner’s guide to a joyful Persian tradition of spring renewal and rebirth
3 minutes
video
Astronomy
The history of astronomy is a history of conjuring intelligent life where it isn’t
34 minutes
video
Politics and government
How it looked to Afghan women to see the Taliban return to power
33 minutes
video
Love and friendship
Love looks a bit different for a chain-smoking couple in a small apartment
11 minutes
video
Metaphysics
Simple entities in universal harmony – Leibniz’s evocative perspective on reality
4 minutes
video
Biography and memoir
Passed over as the first Black astronaut, Ed Dwight carved out an impressive second act
13 minutes
video
The ancient world
The six priestesses who kept the flame of ancient Rome alight at risk of death
5 minutes
video
Engineering
A close-up look at electronic paper reveals its exquisite patterns – and limitations
9 minutes