Home Invasion

A nightmarish essay film on the history of the doorbell, tracing its invention and constant reinventions through 19th century labor struggles, the nascent years of narrative cinema, and contemporary surveillance cultures. Along the way producing a terrifying portrait of the technological ideologies that have shaped our present and the nightmares of the people they emerged from.
Made in bed with a mixture of found materials from archival patent illustrations, domestic security footage to suspenseful horror movie clips, soundtracked by historical prepared-piano pieces and manipulated field recordings—the film asks what is to be done with machines that don’t work for us? With systems that hinder radical futures, that profit off convenience and use our fears against us. What happens when our homes and our dreams have been invaded?

Production Graeme Arnfield. Production company Graeme Arnfield (London, United Kingdom). Director Graeme Arnfield. Screenplay Graeme Arnfield. Editing Graeme Arnfield.

Graeme Arnfield is an artist filmmaker and composer living in London. He graduated with a Masters in Experimental Cinema at Kingston University, London. Producing sensory essay films from networked imagery, he uses methods of investigative storytelling to explore issues of technology, ecology, and history. His work has been presented worldwide at film festivals including IFFR, Rotterdam; Courtisane Festival, Ghent; Open City Documentary Festival, London; Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival; Sonic Acts, Amsterdam; as well as in museums and art venues. His short film THE PHANTOM MENACE (2019) premiered at the 2020 Forum Expanded program.

Films: 2014: I'm Sorry I Have to Run (16 min.). 2015: Sitting in Darkness (15 min.). 2016: Colossal Cave (11 min.), Asbestos (with Sasha Litvintseva, 19 min., Forum Expanded 2017). 2017: Shouting at the Ground (17 min.). 2018: Pedigree (21 min.). 2019: The Phantom Menace (36 min., Forum Expanded 2020). 2021: Pervading Animal (31 min.). 2022: Home Invasion.