2022 / 76MIN / DCP
The feature-length presentation of Life on the CAPS comprises a trilogy of techno-futurist shorts by the Morocco-born, New York-based video and installation artist Bennani, whose work ebulliently combines aspects of animation, music video, cinema verité, and reality television tropes, set in the fictional island of “the CAPS,”a megalopolis created for migrants who have been caught teleporting illegally in a world where teleportation has become the preferred form of travel. Party on the CAPS (2018) introduces narrator Fiona, a neon green talking crocodile, who describes life in the Moroccan quarter of the Atlantic limbo of CAPS. Fiona returns in Guided Tour of a Spill (CAPS interlude) (2021), observing a clash between border police and a growing resistance. Finally, in Life on the CAPS (2022), Bennani’s trilogy concludes on a note of open revolt. Mixing live action footage and computer generated animation, Bennani's playful sci-fi questions the logic of borders shedding light on the politics of immigration and state control.Introduction + post-screening Q+A with director Meriem Bennani, moderated by Salome Asega, NEW INC Director, New Museum, on Saturday, February 17thIntroduction from filmmaker Meriem Bennani on Sunday, February 18th