Fantastic Machine

Fantastic Machine
Directed byAxel Danielson
Maximilien Van Aertryck
Written byAxel Danielson
Maximilien Van Aertryck
Produced byAxel Danielson
Maximilien Van Aertryck
Narrated byMaximilien Van Aertryck
Edited byMikel Cee Karlsson
Production
companies
Strand Releasing
Heretic
Plattform Produktion
Release date
Running time
92 minutes
CountriesSweden
Denmark
LanguageEnglish

Fantastic Machine (also known as And the King Said: What a Fantastic Machine) is a 2023 Swedish-Danish documentary feature directed, produced and edited by Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck.

Synopsis

A video essay examination of humanity's obsession with cameras and imagery to the point of changing behaviors in 200 years alongside the social consequences laying ahead via archival footage (including interviews with media mogul Ted Turner and propagandist filmmaker Leni Reifenstahl).

Release and reception

The film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival under the World Cinema Documentary Competition category on January 23, 2023.

Accolades

It would eventually won a Special Jury Award for Creative Vision.

The film also won two awards (a special mention Youth Jury Crystal Bear and the AG KINO GILDE – CINEMA VISION 14plus) at the 73rd Berlin Film Festival.

See also

References

  1. ↑ MUBI
  2. ↑ Oller, Jacob (October 13, 2023). "Dull, Condescending Documentary Fantastic Machine Thinks It Has Images All Figured Out". Paste.
  3. ↑ Sundance Review: Fantastic Machine Offers a Sprawling History of the Moving Image with a Too-Concise Lens - The Film Stage
  4. 1 2 'Fantastic Machine': Sundance Review|Reviews|Screen Daily
  5. 1 2 ""Our Material Spans 150 Years of Camera Technology": DPs Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aretryck on Fantastic Machine - Filmmaker Magazine". Archived from the original on 2025-02-23. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  6. ↑ Give Me the Backstory: Get to Know Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck, the Filmmakers Behind “And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine” - Sundance Institute
  7. ↑ Fantastic Machine review – whirlwind history shows how cameras dazzle and deceive us|Film|The Guardian
  8. ↑ Heretic Acquires Sundance Title 'Fantastic Machine,' Debuts Trailer - Variety
  9. ↑ Axel Danielson, Maximilien Van Aertryck • Directors of And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine - Cineuropa
  10. ↑ Review: And the King Said, What a Fantastic Machine - Cineuropa
  11. ↑ Sundance 2023: Fantastic Machine, Milithusando, The Eternal Memory|Roger Ebert
  12. ↑ Fantastic Machine review – there's way too much going on here - Little White Lies
  13. ↑ ""Fantastic Machine" Turns the Camera on Itself in Eye-Opening Documentary - sundance.org". Archived from the original on 2025-01-22. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  14. ↑ "The Complete List of 2023 Sundance Film Festival Award Winners - Sundance Institute". Archived from the original on 2026-05-14. Retrieved 2025-02-17.
  15. ↑ Strand Releasing Acquires North American Rights to ‘Fantastic Machine,’ Sundance Documentary Produced by Ruben Östlund (EXCLUSIVE) - Variety