Lola

A fascinating science fiction mockumentary

The protagonists of “Lola”

The film “Lola” is a science fiction mockumentary, that is, a fake documentary, based on the discovery of a mysterious film relating to an alternative past.

The protagonists are two sisters, Tomasina and Martha, who in 1938 inherit from their father a device (called Lola, like their mother) capable of capturing radio and television broadcasts from the future. Initially, they use it for fun, but then they think it could be useful to provide information to their homeland after the outbreak of World War II. 
The problem is that by doing so, they will end up changing that future with catastrophic consequences.

I won’t tell you more. The film itself is very short, just 75 minutes, but I assure you that it is a real gem, both as an idea and as how it was structured.
At first, it can be a bit alienating to follow the story with all this black and white, partly damaged footage, but then you get used to it. And you are fascinated by the way fiction footage is mixed with real footage from the period.

It is not simply an uchronic story, since there’s also the use of temporal paradoxes, which we usually see in stories where time travel takes place. But here, it isn’t people who travel, rather radio and television broadcasts.

Enjoy!