Big Brother is listening. Ultimate paranoia classic about the roles of technology and surveillance.
Harry Caul (Gene Hackman) is a surveillance expert who knows all there is to know about wiretapping phones. When he hears a threatening sentence in one of his recordings, he begins to fear for his own life. He becomes convinced that he’s being followed and starts to doubt everything.
Big Brother is listening. As part of our festival theme 1984 Re:Imagined, Imagine will screen the restored version of Francis Ford Coppola’s classic The Conversation, the ultimate paranoia thriller that makes our collective nightmares palpable. It’s bizarre to think that with today’s smartphones, the idea of constant eavesdropping has practically become a given. The Conversation is a masterpiece about the roles of technology and surveillance. Made before the Watergate scandal, but eerily similar. Critics saw this as well and (deservedly) awarded the film the Grand Prix at Cannes in 1974.
Introduction: Maartje Knaap (Bits of Freedom)
The Imagine screening of The Conversation on 27 October will be introduced by Maartje Knaap. Maartje has been working at Bits of Freedom as Head of Communications since 2023. This year, Bits of Freedom has been fighting for honest tech and an open and free internet, and against mass surveillance, for 25 years. Maartje is responsible for promoting consciousness around these subjects. She has a background in film theory and worked as Head of Communications for sustainable companies for years.
