Young filmmaker Ismaël Joffroy Chandoutis’s disturbing film addresses a phenomenon common among gamers in the United States: cyber harassment as part of which one gamer learns the personal details of another, makes a call to the police with a bogus story, which sends out a SWAT team to burst into the second gamer’s house (who is being swatted). Since all online players see one another during the game, the violent raid is viewed by the other gamers streamed live, entirely subverting the differentiation between the virtual game and actual reality. In addition to testimonies by the victims of such raids, the film also consists of animated excerpts that draw on the aesthetics of video games, creating a threatening world teeming with beauty.
The film premiered at the International Documentary Festival of Amsterdam (IDFA).

Screening: Thursday, Apr 30th 2020, the film “Swatted” will be available for online viewing between 8 pm to 9 pm (Israel Time).
Duration: 25 min
Link: https://vimeo.com/411992867

Artist talk: https://vimeo.com/413880872

*The talk will be held in English

Artport’s online film screenings and conversations with local and intentional video artists are part of Art/Doc – Artist Film Festival (artistic director: Gilad Reich), which will be held at Artport in the coming months. The festival will present video works created by artists who operate on the line between art and cinema, searching for new visual languages in order to represent, touch and intervene with aspects of reality.

We recommend watching the conversation with a cocktail – Cucumber Gin! Here’s a recipe:
1 cucumber
A strip of lemon zest
2 teaspoons sugar
4 slices of lemon
3 shots of gin
2 tablespoons lemon or lime juice
Soda for serving

Using a vegetable peeler, shave 4 long, thin ribbons from cucumber; set aside. Chop the remaining cucumber. Muddle with lemon zest, sugar, and 2 lemon slices in a cocktail shaker (or a jar). Add gin and lime juice and fill the shaker with ice. Cover and shake for about 20 seconds.
Strain and top with club soda. Garnish with the cucumber ribbons and remaining lemon slices.