Deus ex Ma(s)china is an award-winning short-animated film series consisting of the films Deus ex Ma(s)china. Intro (2020), Deus ex Ma(s)china. Breaking (2020), Deus ex Ma(s)china. Characters Test (2020), Deus ex Ma(s)china. Journeys (2020), Deus ex Ma(s)china. Story of a God (2020) and Deus ex Ma(s)china. Interview (2020), all by Lorenz Foth. It also includes a theoretical collection of references justifying and explaining the films. This book is called ‘The Deus ex Ma(s)china Series’ (2020) by Lorenz Foth. The project is further comprised by an exhibition box combining different types of media and technology. The animations are 100% hand-drawn.
Deus ex Machina. Translation from latin to English: ‘god from the machine’ is a term used to describe the event of a seemingly unsolvable conflict being solved abruptly and surprisingly by an unexpected force in a plot. Bringing a surprising effect and e.g. making a happy ending or a comedic moment possible – as suggests Varun Gwalani in ‘Believe’ (Gwalani 2013, p. 218). What if this occurrence literally were to be a machine? Or rather machines? Machines and the related possible large-scale automation could potentially resolve many social and environmental issues if it causes some major changes in political systems.
But how would humanity react? Those are the topics tackled by the series of animated short films.
Link to the project research book:
The project was exhibited in a mechanical exhibition box, inspired by automata – as an attempt to exhibit different media – both digital and physical – as one work of art. The main focus was to combine the short films with the theoretical book. The box contains the book as well as QR-Codes linked to the films and multiple posters explaining everything. It also contains augmented reality features accessibe via a mobile phone, tablet or pretty much any device with a camera. The box itself uses a special mechanism to open, where two faces are rotated seperately, one after another, when the mechanism is used. Due to Covid-19, the box was exhibited 2 years after its completion, in June 2022.
All concepts, writing, production, animating, editing, crafting and acting were done by Lorenz Foth. Supervisors: Bettina Siegele, Giacomo Pala, Bart Lootsma, Bettina Schlorhaufer.
Film awards and festival selections:
Winner: Best Animated Film: Prague International Monthly Film Festival (Prague, Aug 2020)
Winner: Best Sci-Fi Film: World Distribution Awards (London, Sep 2020)
Winner: Best Animated Film: New York Tri-State International Film Festival (New York, Jan 2021)
Finalist: Munich New Wave Short Film Festival (Munich, Jan 2021)
Official Selection: First-Time Filmmaker Sessions (Pinewood Studios, Aug 2020)
LORENZ FOTH 