HyperNormalisation: Adam Curtis BBC documentary to look at why the world is so hopelessly f*cked

'We have retreated into a simplified and often completely fake version of the world'

Revered filmmaker Adam Curtis has a new film coming to BBC iPlayer that will explore our increasingly false perception and presentation of the world around us.

The official blurb from the BBC explains it very nicely, so I’ll get straight to that:

'HyperNormalisation tells the extraordinary story of how we got to this strange time of great uncertainty and confusion - where those who are supposed to be in power are paralysed - and have no idea what to do.

And, where events keep happening that seem inexplicable and out of control - from Donald Trump to Brexit, the War in Syria, the endless migrant crisis, and random bomb attacks. It explains not only why these chaotic events are happening - but also why we, and our politicians, cannot understand them.

'The film shows that what has happened is that all of us in the West - not just the politicians and the journalists and the experts, but we ourselves - have retreated into a simplified, and often completely fake version of the world. But because it is all around us, we accept it as normal.'

HyperNormalisation will draw upon a maelstrom of stories, attempting to weave them together and ascertain how today’s fake and hollow world was created.

One need only glance at social media to see how the world and its many complex issues have been simplified, so it will be interesting to see a documentary maker as talented as Curtis - the man behind Bitter Lake - tackle this.

Spanning 40 years, the narrative will include the Assad dynasty, Donald Trump, Henry Kissinger, Patti Smith, the early performance artists in New York, President Putin, intelligent machines, Japanese gangsters, suicide bombers rise, fall, rise again, and finally the assassination of Colonel Gaddafi.

HyperNormalisation will be released on BBC iPlayer on Sunday 16 October.