FANTASTIC MACHINE

A fascinating documentary looking at how our obsession with, and manipulation of, the photographic and filmed image has warped our sense of reality. It begins with the first photograph, quickly moving on to the birth of cinema and then TV, all brought to life with captivating montages of clips and illuminating commentary.

Unfolding at an exhilarating pace, it swings from the shockingly amusing, such as outtakes from an ISIS propaganda video where the presenter keeps fluffing his lines (Chris Morris’ Four Lions comes to mind), to more disturbing footage of crassly sensationalist US news coverage of high school shootings and an unapologetic late interview with Leni Riefenstahl. Yet more perspective emerges as we move into the modern era of social media, fake news and AI. It ends poignantly by looking at the images we sent into space on the Voyager spacecraft, presenting ourselves to extraterrestrials as happy people with no trace or war, conflict or disease, hammering home its point: The camera never lies. Except when it does.