There are no people in Last and First Men, but the film does feature three very special protagonists: the concrete testimonies of Yugoslavian brutalism, Tilda Swinton’s voice and the music of Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, who composed the soundtracks for Sicario and Arrival.

The idea for Jóhann’s first feature length film came to him in 2010 when he saw Dutch photographer Jan Kempenaers’ images of the colossal monuments of the Tito era. Jóhannsson, an avid reader of science fiction, accompanies his 16mm black-and-white footage with excerpts from British author and philosopher Olaf Stapledon’s eponymous visionary 1930 novel, read ethereally by Tilda Swinton.

Last and First Men is a hypnotic total work of art, a requiem for the universe containing echoes of Kubrick, Tarr and the avant-garde that turns cinema into a pure synthesis of sounds and images; a place of the impossible, where the deepest past meets the most distant future.

Director: Jóhann Jóhannsson
Year: 2020
Country: Iceland
Duration: 70mins

Melbourne International Film Festival – Official Selection

Berlin International Film Festival- Official Selection

New Zealand International Film Festival – Official Selection

Manchester International Film Festival – Official Selection

This specially curated and finely calibrated program explores culture, the built environment and the way people operate in it.

 Built for the big screen, it explores the world of the individuals and societies that have created those environments and the forces that shape them. From renowned architects and designers to the power of economics and global politics, this series of international films dives deeply into the struggle between people and their environment, global forces that shape the way we live and the ongoing dilemma between the built and the natural. 

With all but one title being Western Australian premieres, this series curated by Revelation Film Festival Director, Richard Sowada, includes stunning cinematic explorations of form, urgent social justice, meditative cultural observations and brilliantly told portraits.

These excellent works take audiences on a journey not just through architecture and design but ideas and advocacy that place us at the centre of contemporary thinking.

Behind each form and each element within each form, sits ideas and inspirations that synthesise great social, technological and political change.

At their core, lives inspiration and ambition that embrace maverick and outsider approaches that collide head-on with establishment, deliberately or otherwise.

FDW Film Festival presented by: