NANODOCTOR - ITERATIONS 1 TO 3
DIRECTED BY TIM GRABHAM, FILIPE CARDOSO
UNITED KINGDOM, UNITED STATES // 2020
5 MINS
How is misinformation disintegrating trust and confidence in science and how is the rapid spread or migration of this misinformation causing real world crisis such as scepticism in medicine, vaccines or climate science?
Reflective Encounters
“Do desktop films count as live-action or animation? Either way, this triptych short animates what could be our screens as we seek to learn more about a new system of healthcare driven by AI. However, just as some of the online commenters in the film fear that the new tech is a Trojan Horse for mass subjugation, Nanodoctor - Iterations 1 to 3 hides its true theme until the final iteration.
At first the film seems to be about the tech being advertised but it increasingly reveals itself as a commentary on online discourse and its seemingly degenerative quality. It zeroes in on the dissonance between the sleek sheen of online corporate video, the crude passions of the comments section, and eventually the irony-poisoned paranoias of online conspiracists - all residing in the same petri dish. By cleverly hinting at a healthcare theme within the first iteration, the short prods us to observe online spaces through an epidemiological lens, as we witness the flawed (in)humanity of real people infecting the utopian ideals of medical technology. Amid Covid conspiracies and anti-vaxxer ascendancy, Nanodoctor - Iterations 1 to 3 has its finger on the pulse of 2021, but it taps into a more timeless melancholy induced by the inevitable failures of our utopian dreams.”
— Cathy Brennan
Filmmaker Q&A
A Q&A with filmmakers from the The Body Politic at Encounters Film Festival 2021.
Filmmakers - Gabriel Böhmer (Push This Button If You Start to Panic),Tim Grabham & Filipe Cardoso (Nanodoctor - Iterations 1 to 3), Fan Sissoko (On the Surface), Laura-Beth Cowley - (Crafty Witch), Marnik Loysen - (Brunch) and Kim Noce - (Cities of Ladies).
Hosted by Ben Mitchell, Encounters Animation Selector
Filmmaker Bio
Tim Grabham (AKA iloobia) is an award winning film maker who has produced still and moving image work independently for 30 years. Comprising of short films, animation, photography and installations, as well as documentary and long-form features, his work has been presented internationally at festivals, cinemas, online, television and galleries.
He has co-directed and co-produced two entirely independent and critically acclaimed feature documentaries, 'KanZeOn' (2011) and the award winning 'The Creeping Garden' (2014), and has just completed his first solo directorial feature, 'Ghost Amber' (2021).
His experimental short 'Films To Break Projectors' (2016) has won a number of awards including Best of British Animation at Encounters Festival 2017. Filipe Cardoso graduated in Physics Engineering and has a PhD in Nanotechnologies applied to Biology.
He has 15 years of research experience in microfabrication techniques, magnetic sensors, microfluidics, biotechnology and devices integration, and is currently creating a company in Biotechnology.