Film Screenings / Programs / Series
1995: THE YEAR THE INTERNET BROKE
March 5 – March 12
SCREEN SLATE PRESENTS:
1995: THE YEAR THE INTERNET BROKE
aka MOVIES 95: INVASION OF THE DATA SNATCHERS
The groundwork for interconnected global computer networks was laid in the 1960s, but it didn’t capture the public imagination until the mid-1990s, at which time a confluence of factors including the release of Netscape Navigator, the Windows 95 operating system, high-profile hacking arrests, and aggressive direct marketing campaigns by commercial service providers AOL, CompuServe, and Prodigy fast-tracked the information superhighway for mainstream traffic. Once the domain of scientists, hobbyists, hackers, and role-playing gamers, the internet had irreversibly broken into the public imagination.
Cinema’s relationship to networked culture follows a similar trajectory, with relatively little cultural representation – most notably 1983’s WARGAMES – until a glimmer of recognition with THE LAWNMOWER MAN and SNEAKERS in 1992. But 1995 opened the floodgates to a torrent of internet-themed films. Suddenly, the paying public was confronted with the radical new idea of Sandra Bullock ordering delivery by logging on to Pizza.net. Much as Hollywood valorized the Wild West, it was now pursuing a new kind of Manifest Destiny across the information superhighway at breakneck speed. Instead of their parents’ “Hi-yo, Silver!”, the young generation of keyboard cowboys had a new rallying cry: “HACK THE PLANET.”
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the internet’s marquee year, Screen Slate presents a retrospective of wired features released in 1995, presented in dialog with short experimental film, video art, and documentary works spanning from the 1980s to 2010s.
Programmed by Screen Slate. Film descriptions by Screen Slate writers Danielle Burgos, Jon Dieringer (also series text), Mark Lukenbill, Stephanie Monohan, and Maxwell Paparella.
This program is presented by Screen Slate (www.screenslate.com), an online resource for daily listings and editorial commentary on NYC repertory, independent, microcinema, and gallery screenings. Screen Slate members who support with a monthly contribution of $5 or more are entitled to attend a free screening of their choice during this series.
Co-presented with Massive Science, Sloan Science & Film, Real Life, and Theorizing the Web.
Special thanks to Richard Ashton & David Jennings (Sony Pictures Entertainment); Jake Bart (Lionsgate); Chris Chouinard (Park Circus); Rebecca Cleman, Michael Blair & Karl McCool (Electronic Arts Intermix); Jack Durwood (Paramount); Anke Hahn (Deutsche Kinemathek); and Veronica Neely (20th Century Fox).
CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS NOW!
