In this episode of Futures4Europe Conversations, Bianca Dragomir speaks with George Cârstocea, who teaches in the Cinema and Media Studies Program at the University of Southern California. His courses range from an Introduction to Cinema—exploring film in dialogue with other arts and technologies—to classes on comedy and animation, Romanian cinema, and science fiction.

This video interview explores film as a powerful mediator of futures: how speculative stories play with current assumptions about what is possible, desirable, or inevitable; how imaginaries of the future are constructed and circulated; why some narratives lean toward heroic salvation while others turn to comedy or irony; and how dark or hopeful visions affect our emotional and collective orientation toward what lies ahead.

The interview is structured into eight chapters:

• Chapter 1. Teaching Cinema: How It All Began
• Chapter 2. Students in Uncertain Times
• Chapter 3. What Makes a Movie Worthwhile?
• Chapter 4. Do SF Movies See Into the Future?
• Chapter 5. What Happens When Stories Stir Us?
• Chapter 6. Do Dark Stories Limit Our Imagination?
• Chapter 7. How Do Films Imagine Hopeful Futures?
• Chapter 8. “Flexibility Is Life — Hardening Is Death”

The conversation is also sprinkled with film recommendations—some may be familiar, others perhaps unexpected. Give it a listen. And if you’re planning a movie night, you might want to take George’s recommendations into account.