It’s All Been There Before

Since the beginning of the Coronavirus crisis, our lives have completely changed: Shutdowns, working in home offices, contact restrictions, daily bulletins from virologists, protest movements, and conspiracy fantasies seem to have become part of our new everyday life. Could we have been prepared for this? Totally. It’s all been there before: in the movies. Science fiction films and series have always dealt with the future and its possible course, social changes, and conflicts in a speculative way. Denis Newiak searches through the scenes of pandemic movies and series to bring out ideas for how to cope with the social, political, and economic challenges of the crisis. Can the scenarios developed in film help us to pass this test—and to emerge from it with greater strength?



Denis Newiak (born 1988 in Potsdam) studied European Media Studies at the University of Potsdam and Film Studies at the Freie Universität of Berlin. He completed his doctorate at the BTU Cottbus, Germany, on expressions of loneliness in film and television. In addition to journalism and media theory, he teaches management and leadership techniques at several universities. He also works as a coach for communication, team leadership, and project management.