Written and directed by Catalonian experimental artist Carlos Casas (Cemetery [+lire aussi :
critique
bande-annonce
fiche film]), the feature Krakatoa will have its world premiere at the 2026 International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), where it will compete in the Bright Future section. In addition to the screenings, the film will also be shown as an installation, expanding its cinematic universe into an immersive spatial experience. The sound design is by Nicolas Becker, the Oscar-winning sound artist behind Sound of Metal. His work is central to shaping the film’s physical and sensory impact, turning sound into a narrative force that mirrors the violence and beauty of nature.

Set in the waters of Indonesia, the film follows Kesuma (played by Roni Hensilayah), a young fisherman from Bagan who lives on a bamboo platform a few kilometres from the volcanic island of Krakatoa. After a difficult night in which the fish have mysteriously vanished, he spends the following day repairing his nets and tending to his fragile floating home. But an enormous explosion catches him off guard and leaves him in shock. A tsunami sweeps everything away and Kesuma wakes up on a deserted island, violently cast ashore by the waves. As a castaway, he wanders the island in search of water and food while the landscape appears to transform around him: from a devastated and barren terrain to a lush, flourishing jungle.

Alongside the film, Krakatoa will also be presented as an art installation at IFFR, open to the public from Friday 30 January to 7 February. In this immersive format Carlos Casas guides visitors through an intense sensory journey. Through image, sound and vibration, the work evokes the echo of what has been described as the loudest scream ever heard: the 1883 eruption of the Indonesian volcano Krakatoa. The installation invites audiences to physically experience the overwhelming force of the eruption, blurring the boundaries between cinema, sound art and bodily perception.

Casas draws inspiration from one of the most devastating natural events in history and the loudest sound ever recorded. Beyond its catastrophic impact, the eruption marked a turning point in humanity’s understanding of nature, ecology and planetary interconnectedness, and became one of the first global news events, predating the birth of cinema.

Carlos Casas (Barcelona, 1974) works between Paris and his hometown. His last three films (Cemetery, Cazadores desde el principio de los tiempos and the medium-length film Soledad al fin del mundo) have won awards at film festivals worldwide, and his audiovisual works and installations have been shown in both group and solo exhibitions internationally. From 2005 to 2008, he was creative director at Colors Music and Films, where he developed audiovisual projects and musical research across various regions of the world. He is co-founder of Map Productions and the audiovisual label Von Archives, as well as a visiting professor at Dartmouth College in the USA and at ECAM.

Krakatoa is a co-production by Beli Martínez (Filmika Galaika, Spain), Carlos Casas (Map Productions, France), Elena Hill (AMI – Artist Moving Image, UK), Helena Girón and Samuel M Delgado (La Banda Negra, Spain) and Krzysztof Dabrowski (Etnograf, Poland). The project is supported by ICAA, Cabildo de Tenerife, Outset UK, FID Lab and Interseccion.