Orwell: 2+2=5 (Raul Peck France USA 2025 119 min)

Raoul Peck (b. 1953), who in I Am Not Your Negro (2016) depicted the American author James Baldwin (1924-1987) – which Filmsfelagið screened at the time – has now set out to examine the English author George Orwell (1903-1950). Focusing on totalitarianism and surveillance, he explores the world-renowned novel 1984, which was adapted into a feature film starring John Hurt in the same year. Back then, Filmsfelagið screened 1984 in Sjónleikarhúsið, which celebrates its 100 year aniversary.

Peck highlights similarities with the present day, drawing attention to the evident rise of political populism seen worldwide, notably with the re-election of American President Donald Trump (b. 1946).

The film is organized around Orwell’s slogans: ‘War is Peace,’ ‘Freedom is Slavery,’ and ‘Ignorance is Strength,’ attempting to link the themes of the famous novel to theories of power and how it is exercised in our time. The Iraq War, the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Elon Musk’s Nazi salute, the global surveillance society, and the development of AI (Artificial Intelligence) are all examined.

Raoul Peck, who briefly served as the Minister of Culture in Haiti, was educated at the Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie in Berlin.

The film critic for Rolling Stone says: “Peck has long cratfed impeccable, politically charged fictions, docs, and docudramas, whether it’s his 2000 biopic on Patrice Lumumba or his peerless portrait of James Baldwin (I Am Not a Negro). With this latest magnum opus, the Haitian filmmaker has given us not just an invaluable, iris-out look at our present moment but the scariest movie of 2025 by a wide margin”

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