The Raft | RIGA IFF
RIGA IFF 2024
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The Raft

The Raft Directed by: Marcus Lindeen
SE/DK/DE/US 201897'

Mexican anthropologist Santiago Genovés comes up with an idea to study human behaviour in a limited space and dangerous conditions. What makes us hate each other? An ideal field of research is being created – an iron pontoon raft, in which the darkest drives must manifest themselves. In May 1973, it started its journey from the Canary Islands across the Atlantic Ocean. With no engine, no safety boats and no way to escape. All of the selected participants from different countries are sexually attractive. As sex is related to guilt and shame, there is even a Catholic priest among them, while the most important roles are entrusted to women. The scientist takes notes of their tensions, anxieties, dreams, and frustrations.

The director has brought this amazing study from oblivion – through finding archive footage that was considered to be lost and gathering seven of the eleven people who took part in the 101-day experiment in which the whole group became like a very tight tribe. The only one who actually showed any kind of aggression was… the author of this daring idea. In 2017, a copy of the original raft was exhibited as an art installation at the Pompidou Center in Paris.



Foreword by the programme curator: The director is determined to find out if an anthropological experiment and Stockholm Syndrome intersect.