CONSCIOUSNESS is a cinematic queer-feminist science fiction. The film speculates over future characters encountering expanded realities. New sensory experiences and existential questions arise in spheres where the distinction between humans, humanoids and avatars is unclear.
Existential questions arise when the boundaries between biology and technology are erased. The future characters in the film investigate each other in different spheres, where an unclear distinction emerges between who represents humans, humanoids (human-like robots), and potential avatars. Programmed sensory experiences trigger underlying existential questions; What might it be that we do not 'see', but which touches us at the most fundamental level? What is a 'self'? What is presence? How to understand proximity and touch from a biotechnological perspective? How long does a 'now' last? Can moments be expanded? What happens between the moments?
Mirrors are a recurrent theme in the film. Mirror neurons in the brain are essential neurological actors, which awaken and stimulate empathy and identification. Essentially, mirror neurons react to actions we observe in others. These nerve cells exhibit the same behaviour as when we actually recreate the same action ourselves. Simulated mirrors are used in technology related to AR, augmented reality technology (extended technological reality). How will technological mirror images change biological evolution? The future characters in the film are exposed to subliminal influence; stimuli of such short duration or intensity that they are physically impossible to perceive consciously, but which nevertheless appear to have an impact on how the characters act.