Lili
USA, UK, 2025
Direction: Vassiliki Khonsari, Navid Khonsari
Production: iNK Stories
Lili is a bold interpretation of Macbeth that transplants Shakespearian themes into the heart of an oppressive, modern surveillance state. The project merges the languages of film, theater, and gaming to create a multi-layered story of Lady Macbeth’s ambition and moral decay. Eschewing traditional narrative, the creators utilize "screen-life" aesthetics—the action unfolds on smartphone and computer screens and through the lenses of state monitoring. The project prioritizes responsibility for choices over passive observation, forcing a confrontation with the mechanisms of authoritarianism.
By taking on the role of hackers operating in the deep web, participants gain insight into private conversations, secret data, and dark political intrigue. Using AI and interactive mechanisms, Lili breaks cinematic convention, inviting viewers into a narrative where every decision carries consequences. Created by iNK Stories (the studio behind the acclaimed 1979 Revolution), the project builds a claustrophobic, stylish neo-noir world that raises urgent questions about the nature of control and how easily one can become part of an oppressive system.
