At the Natural History Museum in Vienna, everything that is found on earth, in outer space, and that humans can get their hands on, is collected, archived, and studied in the name of evolutionary research. Archive of the Future captures the aesthetic appeal of the natural-history collection and its working process, illuminating the mammoth project of knowledge preservation and production hidden behind the building’s imperial façade.

-- Dir. Joerg Burger - 92min - 2023 - Austria --

"Joerg Burger’s meticulous and mesmerising study of the Vienna Museum of Natural History is itself a work of natural history...exquisitely composed, high-resolution photography drinks in the rooms, both public and private, where the many collections dwell; vitrine after vitrine, drawer upon drawer, archive boxes until the end of time, with beetles, geological samples, taxidermied birds and botanical samples, each one lovingly tagged and sorted." - Guardian

"The colonial repressions of the past and future eco-crises are pressing in from both sides, and the production of knowledge is in need of an ethical update. With wry humour and a loving eye for incredible detail, this is a film to be enjoyed with both eyes and mind." - CPH:DOX

" Joerg Burger spent four years behind the scenes of the Natural History Museum in Vienna and its collection of 30 million objects. With almost clinical precision, he scrutinises the abundant activity in a fascinating place, which combines the preservation of the past with a reflection on the future....Without ever being judgmental....captivates as much as it transcends the topic, leading to a broad reflection on the human condition.." - Critics Week, Locarno Film Festival

"we are met by glances of long-extinct animal species from the screen, the mountains of data and exhibits not only conceal the stories of past and extraterrestrial living environments, but also many answers to the crises of our time. Archive of the Future tells of this too . In the form of a visually powerful institutional portrait and a silent recipe book of life." - Diagonale