An audiovisual collage exploring the various forms and contexts of the siren, Aura Satz’s Preemptive Listening is an alarming film that addresses present and long-term emergencies without losing sight of history. Sirens from World War II and the Cold War are repurposed to communicate present-day threats. After all, where sirens sound, there is a crisis – but what if they are yet to be heard?

Satz is a London-based multidisciplinary artist working with performance, sound, and moving images. Part essay film, part musical composition, Preemptive Listening began as a sound piece. The film was created in collaboration with twenty contemporary musicians, each providing their own interpretation of a siren. Through the siren, Satz examines how we deal with emergencies. In a world where alarm bells are regularly sounded and the word "crisis" is used indiscriminately, Preemptive Listening holds a crucial place for countering alarm fatigue.

Through image and sound, the film explores the different forms a siren can take and its societal implications. The siren is considered from multiple perspectives: the Arab Spring, World War II, Fukushima, safety measures, and natural disasters. Forgoing linear narrative, Saltz’s montage creates a space for reflection and rethinking, rather than a resolution on what a siren is.