Blog post written by Amber Thibault, Cinema and Photography ’15, FLEFF Intern, Lewiston, Maine.

Entrancing.

That is the first word that came to mind when I watched Sky of Dubai by Anne Spalter. This work is part of the Distributed Microtopias Exhibition. I feel this film really lends itself to this theme as the city literally feels like it's being distributed.

Click here to watch the film.

After I got over the dizzying effect and utter hypnosis I thought about what I had just seen. 

The film starts out "normal" but quickly grows into a more abstract, borderline in psychedelic, piece. At one point you have no idea where you are anymore. The original image of flying over the city disappears and you are left with swirling objects and spinning images.

It took me watching it a couple times to realize that the last shot is a static shot - the only static shot in the piece. I believe it serves to brings the viewer back to reality, so that the viewer doesn't walk away completely disorientated. 

I'm not sure what to think about the blue. I couldn't decide if it made me feel calm or added to the dizzying effect. But overall, the piece swallowed me whole. I felt absorbed by it and found myself asking, what does this mean? What is this film calling attention to? I felt like it had my attention and I wanted to know more.

I will be interviewing Anne Spalter, the creator of this piece, next week, but in the mean time:

What do you think the piece addresses?