An Invitation to Disappear, 2018
Shot in Southeast Asia, Julian Charrière’s film An Invitation to Disappear records a psychosocial transcendent rave set in the fields of a monoculture palm oil plantation. A linear camera shot through nauseatingly infinite rows of trees is underpinned by the mesmerizing pulse of natural sounds and techno beats, developed together with the British DJ and producer Inland. The film also marks the artist’s collaboration with philosopher Dehlia Hannah, responding to the 200th anniversary of a volcanic eruption in Indonesia that plunged world into darkness and weather extremes—a climate cooling crisis remembered in Europe as the “year without a summer.” The delirium of the rave feels increasingly alienating within the human-made grid of the plantation, culminating in feelings of unease competing with the temptation of intrigue. Fog, flashing strobes, and overwhelming sounds turn the palm grove into a melancholic party zone in which the lack of people only exacerbates the dystopian vibe.
Direction: Johannes Förster
Soundtrack: Inland
Camera: Enrico Wolf
Light Concept: Benjamin Tack
Camera motion: Motion Compound
Onsite production: Mr. Bomb, Eakkawit Thampitak
Light & Soundtechnics: Kenny Takewit and the FinalcutTeam
Field philosophy: Dehlia Hannah
Post-production: broken bloke Production
VFX: Ioannis Kaltrimtzis, Tom Freeman
Field recording: Felix Deufel
3D Sounddesign & Mixing: Felix Deufel