Re: <nettime> Leviathan, a film by Alexander Beiner

[David Garcia via nettime-l <nettime-l@lists.nettime.org>]

Thanks for sharing this link Geert - Its an ambitious and entertaining 
film. IMHO It draws a bit too much on the Adam Curtis method of 
illustrating a thesis with a montage of archive trawls but without 
Curtis' surrealist flare for outlandish juxtapositions which have the 
power to create more original insights.

I did appreciate the way they placed the taken for granted entity of 
social and epistemic *trust* and the calamity of its collapse at the 
centre of our predicament. But blaming the human capacity for abstract 
thought entangled with the malign intent of the faux horror 'leviathan' 
did not carry much explanatory power for me.


On 2025-08-14 01:32, Geert Lovink via nettime-l wrote:
> Dear nettimers, last night I watched the documentary Leviathan by 
> London-based Alexander Beiner. During Covid I followed some of the 
> conferences and online events he co-organized under the name Rebel 
> Wisdom but they parted and now he continues under the name Kainos. In 
> 2023 Beiner published on book on psychedelics called The Bigger 
> Picture. You will see, it is an odd mix of nettime-style internet/tech 
> critique (featuring Rushkoff and Varoufakis) and a a deeper layer ‘new 
> age’ reading of recent events (what I would call progressive spirtual 
> historicism). Cuious what you make of it. Is this one of the many 
> possible coalitions to overcome the alt-right Trump-Wilders-Orban etc. 
> agenda? Geert
>
> https://beiner.substack.com/p/leviathan-full-documentary
>
> Why is social trust breaking down, and how do we find it again? This is 
> the question at the heart of Leviathan. Directed and produced by 
> Alexander Beiner, it draws on sociology, myth, psychology, economics 
> and systems theory to delve into the deep code of culture and make 
> sense of the times we live in. It’s a journey that invites the viewer 
> to confront the shadows lurking at the heart of our systems, and points 
> the way toward hope, healing and action.
>
> Starring:
>
> Yanis Varoufakis (Professor of Economics and former Finance Minister of 
> Greece)
> Nora Bateson (Author, Systems Theorist and Head of the Bateson 
> Institute)
> Douglas Rushkoff (Media Theorist and Author)
> Minna Salami (Author and Afro-Feminist Theorist)
> Josh Schrei (Host of ‘The Emerald’)
> Alexa Firmenich (Environmentalist and Founder of The Naia Trust)
> John Vervaeke (Professor of Cognitive Science and author of Awakening 
> from the Meaning Crisis)
--
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