Chambre 999 (Room 999)

In 1982, Wim Wenders placed a camera in room 666 of the Hôtel Martinez in Cannes, positioned about fifteen directors (Godard, Fassbinder, Spielberg, and more) in front of the camera, and had them answer a questionnaire about the future of filmmaking. He himself did not stay in the room, but edited their responses into Chambre 666. Forty years later, Lubna Playoust repeats this playful exercise in her first film, though she brings thirty directors in front of her lens. Otherwise, she sticks as closely as possible to Wender's experiment. Even now, there is a television in the room, but when turned on, it doesn't display television channels: instead, it shows various streaming services. "That digital revolution is deadly," sighs Wenders. Of course he couldn't be absent. The elder statesman is David Cronenberg (80) but the young, often less pessimistic voices also have a say, like the British director Ayo Akingbade (29).

“The death of cinema is one of filmmaking’s ever-green topics of debate, and the cornerstone of generations of think pieces. Actor-turned-director Lubna Playoust tackles the subject anew in her debut feature, which uses Wim Wenders’ 1982 documentary Room 666 as a jumping off point.” - Screen Daily