Barcode (Web Site)

The objects around us serve many useful functions.  They allow us to communicate, to move around, to get some fun out of life. They ensure our very survival. It’s through the objects that we acquire—and discard—that we measure the passage of time.

Objects are also symbols. They have sentimental value, emotional power, cultural weight. They can become icons and metaphors—with their own hidden meanings and codes.

BARCODE features the work of 30 directors—100 short films that decipher everyday objects, revealing what they say about us.

Co-produced by the NFB and ARTE France, it’s an interactive documentary that can be experienced on a computor or as an iPhone app. A collaborative multiplatform production, BARCODE playfully disrupts the routine, inviting users to engage with familiar objects—and to see them in a whole new light.