Best of both worlds: One of the finest movies of the festival, preluded by an introduction by one of the Erasmus University academics researching media and politics. Delia Dumitrica will introduce Dead Man’s Wire by prompting us to think about how news, drama, injustice and anger intersect. Can someone be a hero when doing bad things to get their point across? And what role do the media play in normalizing such serious acts?
Dead Man’s Wire – The captivating true-life tale of Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgård), who held his mortgage agent at gunpoint while pleading his case to the American nation through the media. Proclaiming himself a hero, Kiritsis addressed demands via telephone to the police and the media – especially Fred, a smooth radio DJ (Colman Domingo), believing he is doing a good deed.
Director Gus Van Sant presents us with a complicated ‘hero of the people’, simultaneously foolish and righteous, in the United States of the 1970s. A true story that is still relevant today, with the recent case when health insurance agent Brian Thompson was killed by Luigi Mangione – a folk hero or brutal murderer? And a world that can no longer be imagined without everything being on display via large-scale media.
Dr. Delia Dumitrica is an Associate Professor in Political Communication at Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her research focuses on the hype around digital technologies in politics and activism. She has been awarded the Comenius Senior Fellowship for her work on innovating education..
Dead Man’s Wire I Gus van Sant I 104 minutes I United States I 2026 I With among others Bill Skarsgård, Colman Domingo and Al Pacino.
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Date: Wednesday 4 February 2026
Time: ± 18:00-20:00 hrs. (Time Table TBA)
Location: Pathe 1, Schouwburgplein
Moderation: David BoerenTicket:
Students: €8,50
Other visitors: €13,50
Tickets available from January 15 via the IFFR-PageThis Tiger College is a collaboration between International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) and Studium Generale.
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