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by Joerg Hurschler
grade: 7.5
Deadworld Protocol is a very special film. A film in which the images simply speak for themselves, in which there is no need for dialogue or captions, so that everything comes to us with all its visual and communicative power. At the K3 Film Festival 2025.
In a possible future
We all remember the dramatic moment we experienced in 2020, when, looking out of our windows, the world seemed to have come to a standstill, when the streets were completely deserted, when there seemed to be no trace of humanity left. And so, even residential areas designed for large families, playgrounds and usually crowded streets seemed totally dehumanised, almost surreal environments, as if they had been created by artificial intelligence. But what remains of those images today? Particularly interesting in this regard is the short film Deadworld Protocol, directed by Joerg Hurschler and premiered at the K3 Film Festival 2025.
As we can already guess, Deadworld Protocol is a very special film. A film in which the images simply speak for themselves, in which there is no need for dialogue or captions, so that everything comes to us with all its visual and communicative power.
The camera, therefore, shows us, through short tracking shots, the evocative panorama of a city. The buildings are sober and austere, the sky is grey and immediately conveys a strong sense of anguish. Meanwhile, the sound of heavy, very heavy rain acts as a co-protagonist, accompanying us, increasingly loud and threatening, throughout the film. Even when the camera shows us, each time, the deserted streets, with many parked cars, playgrounds with swings moved by the wind, buildings observed from different perspectives and dozens and dozens of rubbish bags completely abandoned on the side of the road.
The world shown to us by Joerg Hurschler in his short but intense Deadworld Protocol makes us think, therefore, of the recent pandemic and the resulting lockdown, but it could even represent a near future in which human beings no longer seem to be part of this world, in which all that remains are the traces they have left behind over the years. Often to the detriment of the environment itself.
Particularly significant in this regard is the rain. In Deadworld Protocol, the constant, threatening, practically omnipresent rain takes on almost biblical connotations, representing a necessary factor in the permanent erasure of all traces of the old world, suggesting a sort of divine punishment that, in one way or another, seems to have already been served by human beings. And when we see the reflection of cities in huge puddles, they seem to us to be just a memory that is gradually fading away until it almost disappears forever. So, could there ever be any chance of redemption?
Original title: Deadworld Protocol
Directed by: Joerg Hurschler
Country/year: Austria / 2025
Running time: 6’
Genre: experimental
Screenplay: Joerg Hurschler
Cinematography: Joerg Hurschler
Produced by: Joerg Hurschler