"And the King Said, What a FANTASTIC MACHINE" directors.
Filmmakers Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck have collaborated since 2013 under the banner of the Swedish production company, Plattform Produktion. The two filmmakers work both as a directors and producers of their own films, under the umbrella of Plattform Produktion, home to two Palme d’Ors winners (Ruben Östlund’s The Square and Triangle of Sadness). Plattform Produktion is a small company that works like a collective: colleagues nurture each other with conversation and ideas, and see to it that their films come out the best possible way.
As in their previous work, Axel and Maximilien’s feature film debut, FANTASTIC MACHINE, also studies human behavior, but this time from the perspective of our modern media landscape: When image overtakes all other forms of communication, does it shift our fundamental human behaviors? FANTASTIC MACHINE uses nearly 100% archive images to create a fun, intense, breathtaking ride—with human beings at the center.
The duo’s award-winning short films have premiered at Berlinale, Cannes, Toronto, Hot Docs, Aspen, Palm Springs and Sundance. In their most well-known short film, Ten Meter Tower, the two filmmakers asked people to climb up to the top of a diving tower and decide whether to jump...or climb back down. They wanted to see how humans look and behave when faced with such a dilemma.
Ten Meter Tower (2016), premiered at the Berlinale before moving on to compete in over 100 festivals including Sundance and Palm Springs, winning both the Jury and Audience Awards in Clermont-Ferrand. Millions saw the film online as it went viral through the New York Times’ website. It has been acquired by the Finnish Museum of Modern Art and exhibited at the Venice Biennale; won over 30 international prizes, was shortlisted for a 2017 Academy Award, and nominated for an Emmy Award. Ten Meter Tower, along with their most recent short, Jobs for All!, can be seen on The New York Times' Op-Docs website.
