Last and First Men

Music, film and narration form a poetic meditation on memory and loss in Jóhann Jóhannsson's breathtaking multimedia work, Last and First Men. Based on the cult science fiction novel by Olaf Stapledon, it combines music, film and narration from Tilda Swinton, sitting somewhere between fiction and documentary. Images of a decaying futuristic landscape – filmed in 16mm black and white in the former Yugoslav republics – are placed against Jóhannsson’s haunting orchestral score, crafted over seven years, before its premiere at the 2017 Manchester International Festival.