Sut ydym ni'n gysylltiedig? How are we connected? (2024)
Still A short experimental film looking at cellular network towers which are used within 5G transmission in the UK. The first part is filmed at a UK factory which makes 5g infrastructure and the multiple socio-economical and ethical implications of communication and infrastructure. Images intersect, overlap; this work interweaves diegetic sounds, ASMR, interviews and the sound from a viral video from the Mariupol's Azovstal steel plant. The steel of the cell tower mast, like the silver of 16mm film, are intrinsically linked to wider socio-economic fluctuation that is tied up with commerce and industry. This film looks at digital infrastructure, like all infrastructures, and examines its key elements to sustainability, self-determinism, access, and rights. The second part of the film is from the filmmaker's locality of Aberystwyth, Wales, UK an area with currently no 5G access. This lack of access has a historical lineage and echoed sentiments of the Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, (Welsh Language Society) 1970's campaigns for recognition of Welsh language and radio/tv distribution.
The film incorporates archival imagery of the Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg TV protests, a larger mass-campaign to press for a Welsh-language media content and dissemination. The film brings forth Welsh captions in white, making them more visible than the English captions which are black. Not all the Welsh captions are then translated into English – a small way in which to alienate or obstruct an English reading audience, thus foreground the ideas of access, language. Heritage as well as the nationalism are sometimes arbitrary in nature as evident with the 'Made in Britain' logo. Fundamentally this film points to the interconnection of humanity and the fight for preservation and self-determinism.
Phillips is an artist based with the UK DIY labs network, shooting and hand processing16mm film and use of a visual language that engages with the wider history of image circulation, process, and autonomy. Showing at Braizer's International Film Festival Sept 2024