DRIFT
Created by Nienke Huitenga, Lieven Heeremans, Hay Kranen
Audioplay by Minem Sezgin
Produced by Studio ZZZAP and VPRO Medialab
It’s 2024, or—time doesn’t actually matter so much—2529: an octopus as narrator, old dikes that once formed the contours of land. In an generative audio experience, a podcast that is not a podcast, Drift connects rising sea levels and the climate crisis to the rise of AI.
THE experience
This story world combines the imaginary with factual sources, such as the IPCC climate report and real-time weather forecasts by the Dutch meteorological institute. In a distant future, society has learned hard lessons from environmental neglect. Due to pollution and rising sea levels, the Netherlands, such as it once was, no longer exists. The waters have now been injected with AI. A techno-liquid environment serves as a living repository of knowledge, merging ancient wisdom with futuristic insights.
The pace and rhythm of the story are synchronized with the lunar phases and the tides, moving away from the rigid mechanical clock that dictates human life, and back to the way Mother Earth intended. Technology and nature combine to create a new reality that the listener can drift through.
DRIFT premieres at IDFA DocLab in the competition for Digital Storytelling 2024
Credits
Created by
Nienke Huitenga, Hay Kranen, Lieven Heeremans
Audioplay
Minem Sezgin
A production of
Studio ZZZAP & VPRO Medialab
Showrunner
Nienke Huitenga
Editor-in-chief VPRO Medialab
Abel Enklaar
Developer
Hay Kranen
Editor linear episodes
Lieven Heeremans
Nightclub music production
Subject Sue
Music & generative sound design
Mark IJzerman
Writers Room
Nienke Huitenga, Minem Sezgin, Iza Marley
DRIFT voices
Octopus | Shana Bossmann
Sigrid | Charlotte Geel
Essential Workers / Hay Kranen, Lieven Heeremans, Yvonne van Ulden
Ensemble / Lotte Baltussen, Anne Beentjes, Raldi Beentjes, Marcel van Brakel, Fay Breeman, Jeroen Disch, Linda Duits, Annemie Hendriks, Suzie Hagens, Romy van Krieken, Hanna Kuijs, Sarah Lugthart, Mark Meeuwenoord, Eva Rookmakers, Jeroen van de Nieuwenhof, Nienke Huitenga, Vanessa Vijzelman, Michiel van de Weerthof
Hydrological research & advice
Frank Versteeg (Witteveen & Bos)
Research
Dino Steenbeek
Generative visual design
Saskia Freeke
Technical design exhibition
Michael Tjia
Installation production
Popkraft
Drift is supported by
Creative Industries Fund NL, De Machinerie, VPRO Medialab
Special Thanks to
Aletta Becker, Gerthein Boersma, Klasien van de Zandschulp, Neutrinowatch (Martin Zaltz Austwick and Jeff Emtman), Carla Navarro (IN-EDIT Festival)
