Eppchez !

A meditation on art and grief. A real deep treat for puppet makers and Black actors.

In a world where integrated AI affects the way humans perceive the world around them, algorithms filter out triggers and discomfort, electrical signals block “unpleasant” emotions. But there are some places people can go to unplug from their AI. Known as Thud Zones, these counterculture sites have many implications and uses for the plugged-in people of tomorrow.

In this physical and lyrical exploration "commodity", oil is long over and new technologies have made emotion extraction a key energy source. Vera returnes home to the company town built up around Emotus, where this energy is mined from human workers. Everything seems changed, but perhaps things were always this precarious. Her father, once a head engineer at Emotus was left a fragile, paranoid wreck in the aftermath of an unexplained accident at the company, which resulted in her mother's death. Through her clumsy investigation to piece together Pop-pop's trauma, Vera meets Woolen, one of Emotus' most productive loving mines. First meet-cute then honey mooning, falling in love with Vera casts whole new light on Woolen's work as they struggle to produce for Emotus in the wake of their growing feelings for Vera. Pop-pop rises to the occasion of his hallucinations and his truth but Vera can't get any answers until it's too late. Emotus minds the bottom line and sacrifices must be made to keep production up.

Hesh has been posted by this bridge since it was first built. No one knows this spot quite like this dutiful bridge troll, who reports every detail that can be gathered to Superintendent of the Universe. But Hesh is not one to speak for the train or the trees or the river, rocks, and particles of pollution. Ey prefers to act as a conduit for each of their songs. Weaving together the sung portrait of this spot across time and the elements.