The Veiled City
2023 · 13m · UK
Directed by Natalie Cubides-Brady
Genres: documentary, experimental, sci-fi
Tones: contemplative, melancholic
A speculative city symphony composed entirely of archival footage of London's Great Smog of 1952, unfolding through fictional letters from a post-apocalyptic future to reframe the historic disaster as an ecological cautionary tale for the present-day climate crisis.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Archival footage of the 1952 Smog repurposed as letters from 2198 — Sans Soleil cosplay risks preciousness, but the climate-disaster reframing has real teeth. I'm cautiously in.
A speculative city symphony built entirely of archival footage, with epistolary voiceover from 2198 — this is a direct descendant of Chris Marker's La Jetée and Sans Soleil, and the conceit is rigorously argued in the form itself. The kind of compositional intelligence that earns the comparison.
A speculative city symphony built entirely from 1952 archival smog footage, narrated by letters from 2198 — that's a precise formal idea, no original cinematography needed. Thirteen minutes, 42.9K views, and a full credited craft team for sound and color suggest this is no rough essay.
Reviews
British-Colombian filmmaker Natalie Cubides-Brady sits at the intersection of documentary and fiction, working entirely with archival footage of London to create an ecological cautionary tale.
A speculative city symphony inspired by London's Great Smog of 1952, created from archive footage and unfolding through fictional letters from a post-apocalyptic future.
Festivals
- Berlin International Film Festival 2023
- Curtas Vila do Conde 2023, Best Documentary
- Zinebi Bilbao 2023, Mikeldi for Best Documentary Short Film
- Flickerfest 2024
- Vienna Shorts 2023
- IDA Documentary Awards 2023