Things to come

The science-fiction genre was experiencing a new surge in popularity. A large number of high-budget science-fiction movies hit it big at the box office in 2013 and 2014. At the same time, however, many areas of contemporary society seem to moving in a direction which resembles science fiction. The exhibition at the Filmmuseum Berlin wished to offer visitors an overview of the genre and explore the potential reasons for its current success. Could there be a connection between the economic, environmental and social crises of today with the present boom we are seeing in science fiction? The exhibition displays have been designed in the form of a journey. The first part began in “Outerspace”. The second part took visitors to faraway planets where they encountered strange creatures and “Aliens”. The third area titled “Society of the Future” examined technical and scientific progress in relation to the issue of social coexistence. In addition to displaying original documents and props, the exhibition included installations which brought the film sets to life and presented awe-inspiring images, graphic design and animation technology. The presentations on the technological state of research and current socio-political debates illustrated how the genre relates to our present day. A joint conference, developed in association with the Einstein Forum in Potsdam, invited representatives of various disciplines (climate and future research, design and software development, robotics and space sciences) to discuss the society of the future.

Artistic director: Rainer Rother
Curators: Peter Mänz, Kristina Jaspers, Vera Thomas, Nils Warnecke, Gerlinde Waz

Museum für Film und Fernsehen, Berlin, 2016
Additional Venues: Paris, Toronto