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Factory Sessions: Jon Hopkins, Bryce Dessner, Aaron Dessner and Max Porter

Jon Hopkins, Bryce Dessner, Aaron Dessner and Max Porter perform new work inspired by the film All of This Unreal Time live at Aviva Studios

Max Porter performing on stage at Aviva Studios with purple lighting

Jon Hopkins, Bryce Dessner, Aaron Dessner and Max Porter | Factory Sessions | Factory+

A live performance of new work inspired by the film All of this Unreal Time from its composers Aaron Dessner, Bryce Dessner and Jon Hopkins – featuring poetry by Max Porter.

All of this Unreal Time is a mesmerising film starring Cillian Murphy, which was written by Max Porter, directed by Aoife McArdle and produced by Mary Hickson and Fran Thompson. It was first presented as an immersive installation at Manchester Central during the 2021 edition of Manchester International Festival. In December 2024, the film was screened at Aviva Studios with a Q&A and accompanying live performance.

Find out more about the film All of this Unreal Time here.

'This was an extraordinary project to work on. The combination of talent was rare and wonderful, and the work itself astonishingly powerful. What a group that the legendary Mary Hickson assembled. A dream to work with Aaron and Bryce Dessner on the score, and under the direction of my previous collaborator Aoife McArdle. Max Porter's writing combined with Aoife's imagery felt it was perfectly summing up the feeling of this era, the conflict and tragedy but also the love and hope. What we as a species are going through right now. Cillian Murphy is really the only person who could deliver these words with the power they deserved.'

Jon Hopkins

About the film

A man – any man, everyman – walks alone through night and the city. From subway to pavement to wide open marshland, he confesses his failings: emotional, physical, political. To whom, and for what? Ashamed and alarmed, he considers both the smallness of human life and the scale of the world, and ultimately our most pressing obligation: to care for those alongside us, and for the earth that sustains us.

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