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I worked on the 16mm cinematography for “The Mirror” by Daniel T. Halsall: A documentary expanded-cinema installation exploring our digital present. Halsall takes exhibition visitors to the Brazilian Amazon, where the remote Munduruku community is currently undergoing a rapid digital transformation after gaining internet access only about a year and a half ago. What distinguishes their use of smartphones, content, and more from the kind of technology consumption that has gradually become ubiquitous, as we know it here in Munich and in most other places around the world? And what role does Australia, the first country to introduce a social media ban for under-16s starting December 10, 2025, play in this context?
While a globally unique law banning social media for under 16-year-olds comes into force in Australia on December 10, 2025, an isolated community in the Amazon is struggling with the massive consequences of having gained Internet access only a year and a half ago. The new exhibition "the mirror" by HFF director and media art scholar Daniel T. Halsall is set in precisely this area of tension; the studio in Sendling becomes the setting for an immersive 16mm Expanded Cinema installation that spans from Munich to Brazil and Australia.
A personal question as the starting point
"The starting point of the project was a personal question," says Halsall. "How can I accompany my son on the path to a healthy use of cell phones and the internet - even though I am still in the process of finding this for myself?"
Global context: defense and digital intoxication
For the Munduruku in the Brazilian Amazon, the situation is complex: on the one hand, they use the internet as a crucial tool to draw global attention to their situation and defend themselves against illegal gold diggers. On the other hand, the digital reality has arrived there very quickly and with full force - including massive problems with cell phone addiction among young people. "The conversations we had there in the rainforest about children's cell phone use are amazingly similar to the discussions we have here in Munich," says Halsall. Australia is already one step ahead: while the exhibition "the mirror" is running, a radical social media ban for young people is coming into force there. The world is watching this legislative attempt - the outcome is uncertain.
Pressrelease from HFF-Muenchen (in German):
https://www.hff-muenchen.de/de_DE/presse-landingpage#the-mirror-mks-ausstellung-25
Director & producer: Daniel T. Hallsall
Cinematography: Jefta Varwijk
Producer: Lukas Augustin
Sound (Amazon): Johannes Beck
Fixer Amazon: Sidney Silva
Fixer Melbourne: Lux Francis
Grade: Gary Grade
Filmlab: Haghefilm