Adrian Paci: Interregnum

This film features 20th-century footage of public mourning rituals during interregnums. A transitionary period between two regimes when a state has no formal ruler, an interregnum can create a brief sense of freedom from authority and a break in the social order. These moments can be both liberating and traumatic, as power shifts may occur with uncertain political and social outcomes. Drawing from state film archives and national television broadcasts across totalitarian regimes, Paci edits scenes together through carefully chosen cuts to examine death as a form of public theatre. In doing so, he highlights the performative, propagandistic role of the media and mass spectacle within authoritarianism.