Last and First Men

Released 30 July 2020
On BFI Player

Iceland, 2019
70 mins
Cert TBC

Dir Jóhann Jóhannsson
Music Jóhann Jóhannsson, Yair Elazar Glotman
With Tilda Swinton

Two billion years ahead of us, a future race of humans finds itself on the verge of extinction. Almost all that is left in the world are lone and surreal monuments, beaming their message into the wilderness…

Based on the cult science fiction novel by Olaf Stapledon, Last and First Men is the first and only feature-length film directed by acclaimed composer Jóhann Jóhannsson (Sicario, Arrival).

Situated halfway between fiction and documentary and beautifully filmed in 16mm black and white, Jóhannsson artfully combines music, image and narration (voiced by Tilda Swinton), to form a powerful poetic meditation on memory and loss.