Filmed on-location in Mechelen, Belgium, “De Grote Boodschap” presents the stories of paired Flemish characters who appear to be caught in a time-warp. A stewardess and her unemployed husband, an old junkie and her caregiver, a former beatboxer and his girlfriend, a real-estate agent and a taciturn potential tenant. As each character attempts to understand what has happened and what is about to take place, the movement of the camera and the motivations of the other characters conspire against him/her. This particular time-warp depicts individuals locked in a conflict with time that ranges from scatological to the profound. The editing process for Omer Fast is a way of drawing our attention to the fine line between “understanding what we see” and “knowing why we understand what we see”. Editing footage either appropriated or taken by Fast himself, the artist uses clear manipulation techniques, reflecting on the reliance of our knowledge on the abundance of information provided and consumed in the present.
