Date of Submission
Spring 2021
Academic Program
Film and Electronic Arts
Project Advisor 1
Richard Suchenski
Abstract/Artist's Statement
The film focuses on two people going on a date after societal collapse. The cause of the apocalypse is not the focus, but rather the efforts of people to find forms of normalcy during or after a catastrophe. Much of the story was influenced by my feelings of anxiety from the current pandemic and rise of political violence, as well as the need for habits of normality. The idea of rewilding, both in nature and in anarchist theory, inspired the setting and characters. During the lockdown, many countries noted the increase of species returning to habits and even wandering through towns where they are never seen. This natural rewilding, mostly of foliage, would without a doubt also occur in abandoned areas too, as seen in Pripyat and the recently demolished Nara Dreamland. Regarding anarchist theory, rewilding is the process of undoing human domestication. Essentially an anti-civilization belief. Though I am not a supporter of any form of anarchy, this “return to land” ideology inspired the rugged lives of the characters and the animalistic behavior of antagonists. In the end, this film is an examination of people grasping for rituals and routines that remind them of simpler times.
Open Access Agreement
On-Campus only
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Arruda, Matthew Rocha, "Mutually Assured Love" (2021). Senior Projects Spring 2021. 339.
https://digitalcommons.bard.edu/senproj_s2021/339
This work is protected by a Creative Commons license. Any use not permitted under that license is prohibited.
Bard Off-campus DownloadBard College faculty, staff, and students can login from off-campus by clicking on the Off-campus Download button and entering their Bard username and password.