War of the Worlds

Directed by Péter Lichter

Collage film built upon the audio of The War of the Worlds, directed and narrated by Orson Welles. Originally broadcast in October 1938 as a Halloween prank, the program famously triggered mass panic across the United States, as its format—presented as a series of live news bulletins—proved uncannily convincing. Absorbing the visual language of the contemporary media environment, W:A:R:O:F:T:H:E:W:O:R:L:D:S constructs a peculiar media-archaeological artifact. AI-generated videos, drone footage, feature films, video games, and online fragments converge with the original radio broadcast, creating a layered and unstable field of perception.