Dear Hacker

Alice’s webcam’s red light flashes, out of the blue. On and off, on and off, on and off… And then abruptly stops. A hacker, a ghost, a god? An invasion, a warning, a wave hello? She decides to unveil the source or identity of the invader the best way she knows how – she talks, imagines, connects, and asks.

Video streams, operating system, data transmission, DEAR HACKER is a computer-invasion film of sorts, and beyond. Alice Lenay’s debut documentary, first presented at the prestigious Cinéma Du Réel festival this year, is a patchwork of video calls, a metaphysical reflection. Alice merrily jumps into the rabbit hole and navigates the infinite universe of the web – our minds’ web – and our interconnectedness at a time when we’ve never been so forcefully distant. With her witty observations and sagacious imagination, she writes a visual letter. She tells the story of Perception, Reality, the story of... us.

The experience is uncanny, especially in the setting of a virtual festival. As a cinephile and spectator, I watch on my computer screen other people inviting themselves in my home, I silently observe while Alice talks to them. They search, they wonder, puzzled and amused… How do you control who sees you? Is a sticker on your webcam enough? How do you dominate the perception of others? Is there a difference between a person’s true self and their virtual state of being? Nothing is more uncertain when you’re disconnected from what’s perceived as reality, from being able to touch, to feel and to register every other element that makes our communication whole – silence, noises, smell. The desynchronization of signals between two people and their virtual doppelganger restructures the very nature of our language and sense of the other. The loading circle spirals out. Alice keeps going. – Celia Pouzet