Riley Harmon, ‘What it is without the hand that wields it’ (2008)
As gamers die in a public video game server of a modified version of Counter-strike, a popular online first person shooter, the electronic solenoid valves dispense a small amount of fake blood. The trails left down the wall create a physical manifestation of virtual kills, bridging the two realities. The title is inspired by the Telefon Tel Aviv song of the same name.
Catalin Mitulescu, ‘Cum mi-am petrecut sfarsitul lumii’ (The way I spent the end of the world) (2006)
Tragi-comic coming-of-age tale, set in 1989 Romania, which follows 17 year old Eva and her younger brother Lilu. After knocking down a bust of Ceausescu by accident, Eva is sent to a technical school where she meets Andrei, with whom she plans to escape communist Romania by swimming across the Danube into Yugoslavia and relocate to Italy. Meanwhile, Lilu and his friends volunteer for a children’s choir scheduled to sing for Ceausescu, hoping this will give them a chance to assassinate the dictator.
