Two Minutes to Midnight

  • Yael Bartana
  • Germany, Netherlands
  • 2021
  • 47 min
  • Dutch Premiere
  • Paradocs, Focus: The Future Tense

At a large conference table, a group of female politicians comes together to save the world from nuclear catastrophe. Two Minutes to Midnight blends fiction and political debate, with five female representatives of a powerful nation played by actors consulting real experts. They need to find a quick solution to respond to an aggressive fictional dictator—if he presses his red button all hell will break loose. One side says disarmament is the only way to build trust. But the other side questions how credible or safe that would make us.

Is there any way these female leaders can make their own distinctive impact on the world? Aren’t they just as much a part of a system that for centuries has been fueled by testosterone? The longer the discussion lasts, the more complex the situation becomes. The solution couldn’t be simpler, as we discover in the denouement. But who will make the first move?

The footage was shot in 2017 and 2018 during the live performances What if Women Ruled the World? in Aarhus and Berlin and Bury Our Weapons, Not Our Bodies in Philadelphia.

Credits

  • 47 min
  • color
  • DCP
  • Spoken languages: English
  • Subtitles in: English
Director
Yael Bartana
Production
Yael Bartana for My-i Productions, Naama Pyritz for Ingenue Productions Ltd.
Co-production
Zsuzsanna Kiràly for Flaneur Films
Cinematography
Uri Ackerman
Editing
Yael Bartana

IDFA history

2021
Dutch Premiere
Paradocs
Focus: The Future Tense

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IDFA history

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