A place out of memory. In a forest clearing, distances and chosen paths are mapped from recollection, where hardly any traces remain. Only one year earlier, there were a barn, a lake, cows and a high military fence – all artificially transplanted here. Slowly we follow the protagonists into a thicket of memories, through their experiences during a group media experiment - controlled by an invisible force on the other side of the fence. The viewer witnesses an experimental set-up with abstract reconstructions of on-camera everyday situations. The film investigates the intersection between the actual living utopia and its capitalist conception. An intricate interplay between camera, actors, directors, observers and protagonists ensues. Clearly delineated boundaries become blurred. Who fulfilled which role back then and who is calling the shots now? Where in this complex entanglement of observation, staging, re-staging and newly created filmic events lies reality?
Last Year in Utopia poses questions about role assignment, power relations and responsibility. What does equal opportunity mean within the universal quest for happiness – is there still hope for Utopia?
