If we could summarize Koji Fukada’s cinematic style in four terms, these would definitely include his love for French cinema, his knack for experimentation, theatricality, and the concept of the stranger who appears suddenly and turns everything upside down. “Sayonara” seems to embody all of the four, with the last one having a meta hypostasis here, since the ‘stranger’ is not part of the story, but of the actual production, with Geminoid F, a female android created by Hiroshi Ishiguro, having a protagonist role. The story is based on a play by Oriza Hirata, and was promoted as “the first movie to feature a Gynoid performing opposite a human actor”
“Sayonara” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
The story takes place in a not so distant future, when Japan has experienced another nuclear incident and is gradually becoming uninhabitable. The whole population has to evacuate to avoid radiation poisoning,...
“Sayonara” is screening at Vesoul International Film Festival of Asian Cinema
The story takes place in a not so distant future, when Japan has experienced another nuclear incident and is gradually becoming uninhabitable. The whole population has to evacuate to avoid radiation poisoning,...
- 2/8/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Hot Docs, one of the world’s leading documentary festivals, has unveiled its full lineup. The event, which runs online from April 29-May 9, will present 219 films from 66 countries across 12 programs, with 50% of the directors in the program being women.
The opening film will be “A.rtificial I.mmortality,” in which director Ann Shin poses the question: If you could live forever through AI, would you? Facing the reality of death as her father suffers from dementia in his old age, the filmmaker investigates the world of digital cloning through AI. After conversations on the process with leading experts in the field, she digitizes her memories and uploads them into a newly created avatar of herself, preserving her personality and identity in digital form forever. The film features commentary from Swedish philosopher Nick Bostrom, director of the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at Osaka University Hiroshi Ishiguro, artificial intelligence researcher Ben Goertzel, and mindfulness guru Deepak Chopra.
The opening film will be “A.rtificial I.mmortality,” in which director Ann Shin poses the question: If you could live forever through AI, would you? Facing the reality of death as her father suffers from dementia in his old age, the filmmaker investigates the world of digital cloning through AI. After conversations on the process with leading experts in the field, she digitizes her memories and uploads them into a newly created avatar of herself, preserving her personality and identity in digital form forever. The film features commentary from Swedish philosopher Nick Bostrom, director of the Intelligent Robotics Laboratory at Osaka University Hiroshi Ishiguro, artificial intelligence researcher Ben Goertzel, and mindfulness guru Deepak Chopra.
- 3/23/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
What if Alex Garland’s 2014 science-fiction favorite “Ex Machina” starred a real artificially intelligent robot as Ava instead of Alicia Vikander? Moviegoers are about to find out, sort of. Bondit Capital Media, Happy Moon Productions, and Ten Ten Global Media are putting forward $70 million to produce “b,” a science-fiction movie that is set to star the A.I. robot Erica in the leading role. The companies are touting “b” as the first movie in history to be led by an actor who is an A.I. robot.
“b” follows a scientist who must help the A.I. robot he created reach freedom after a program he designed to perfect human DNA has dangerous consequences. The A.I. robot Erica is starring as the A.I. robot character after her creators, Japanese scientists Hiroshi Ishiguro and Kohei Ogawa, taught her how to act by applying method acting principals to her artificial intelligence programming.
“b” follows a scientist who must help the A.I. robot he created reach freedom after a program he designed to perfect human DNA has dangerous consequences. The A.I. robot Erica is starring as the A.I. robot character after her creators, Japanese scientists Hiroshi Ishiguro and Kohei Ogawa, taught her how to act by applying method acting principals to her artificial intelligence programming.
- 6/25/2020
- by Zack Sharf
- Thompson on Hollywood
What if Alex Garland’s 2014 science-fiction favorite “Ex Machina” starred a real artificially intelligent robot as Ava instead of Alicia Vikander? Moviegoers are about to find out, sort of. Bondit Capital Media, Happy Moon Productions, and Ten Ten Global Media are putting forward $70 million to produce “b,” a science-fiction movie that is set to star the A.I. robot Erica in the leading role. The companies are touting “b” as the first movie in history to be led by an actor who is an A.I. robot.
“b” follows a scientist who must help the A.I. robot he created reach freedom after a program he designed to perfect human DNA has dangerous consequences. The A.I. robot Erica is starring as the A.I. robot character after her creators, Japanese scientists Hiroshi Ishiguro and Kohei Ogawa, taught her how to act by applying method acting principals to her artificial intelligence programming.
“b” follows a scientist who must help the A.I. robot he created reach freedom after a program he designed to perfect human DNA has dangerous consequences. The A.I. robot Erica is starring as the A.I. robot character after her creators, Japanese scientists Hiroshi Ishiguro and Kohei Ogawa, taught her how to act by applying method acting principals to her artificial intelligence programming.
- 6/25/2020
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Alec Bojalad Nov 12, 2018
HBO has released the first trailer for the documentary, The Truth About Killer Robots, which will presumably not be terrifying at all.
Look, I know we're all busy people. We've got jobs to do, people to see. Sometimes, however, it feels like we should spare a moment just to remember that the robots are coming to kill us all...or merely take our jobs.
Thankfully, HBO is shepherding filmmaker Maxim Pozdorovkin's documentary, The Truth About Killer Robots, to remind us.
The documentary, which premiered at Tiff 2018, examines the increasing role of automation in our lives and introduces the robots that will be displacing us. Check out some of the horror below.
Video of The Truth About Killer Robots (2018) | Official Trailer | HBO
"This is a story of automation and the people lost in the process," a terrifying robotic voice says to open the trailer. As it turns...
HBO has released the first trailer for the documentary, The Truth About Killer Robots, which will presumably not be terrifying at all.
Look, I know we're all busy people. We've got jobs to do, people to see. Sometimes, however, it feels like we should spare a moment just to remember that the robots are coming to kill us all...or merely take our jobs.
Thankfully, HBO is shepherding filmmaker Maxim Pozdorovkin's documentary, The Truth About Killer Robots, to remind us.
The documentary, which premiered at Tiff 2018, examines the increasing role of automation in our lives and introduces the robots that will be displacing us. Check out some of the horror below.
Video of The Truth About Killer Robots (2018) | Official Trailer | HBO
"This is a story of automation and the people lost in the process," a terrifying robotic voice says to open the trailer. As it turns...
- 11/12/2018
- Den of Geek
A new documentary Do You Trust This Computer? is making its world premiere Thursday at the Regency Village Theater in Westwood, with its timely exploration of the rise of artificial intelligence and the potential perils of thinking machines.
Directed by Chris Paine, the writer-director of Who Killed the Electric Car?, the docu examines the staggering amounts of data collected, interpreted and fed back to us through apps, intelligent devices and targeted ads. The film explores the rise of data analytics and machine learning and its power to fundamentally transform society, including elections (look no further than the privacy scandal surrounding political advisory firm Cambridge Analytica) to medical diagnostics to battlefield weapons.
“The inspiration for the documentary began about three years ago when I plugged my phone into my laptop and first saw the question ‘Do you trust this computer?’ In spite of my enthusiasm for tech, I realized my answer was actually no,...
Directed by Chris Paine, the writer-director of Who Killed the Electric Car?, the docu examines the staggering amounts of data collected, interpreted and fed back to us through apps, intelligent devices and targeted ads. The film explores the rise of data analytics and machine learning and its power to fundamentally transform society, including elections (look no further than the privacy scandal surrounding political advisory firm Cambridge Analytica) to medical diagnostics to battlefield weapons.
“The inspiration for the documentary began about three years ago when I plugged my phone into my laptop and first saw the question ‘Do you trust this computer?’ In spite of my enthusiasm for tech, I realized my answer was actually no,...
- 4/3/2018
- by Dawn C. Chmielewski
- Deadline Film + TV
An android actress, giant anime robots and the legacy of Akira Kurosawa were among the offerings at this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival (Tiff), which as always presented an interesting mix of old and new.
Android Geminoid-f – created by robotics expert Hiroshi Ishiguro – is an eerily convincing lead actress in Koji Fukada’s Sayonara, which received its world premiere in Tiff’s competition section.
Both Geminoid-f and Japanese-speaking actress Bryerly Long are reprising their roles from the short stage-play from which the film is adapted.
Although set in a near-future Japan contaminated by radiation, the film is more of a riff on mortality and the fear of death than a comment on the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
More startling than the story was the range of emotions that Geminoid-f was able to convey. “Sometimes robots can express more than humans,” said Ishiguro at a post-screening event.
Gundam focus
The giant robots came courtesy of a focus on iconic...
Android Geminoid-f – created by robotics expert Hiroshi Ishiguro – is an eerily convincing lead actress in Koji Fukada’s Sayonara, which received its world premiere in Tiff’s competition section.
Both Geminoid-f and Japanese-speaking actress Bryerly Long are reprising their roles from the short stage-play from which the film is adapted.
Although set in a near-future Japan contaminated by radiation, the film is more of a riff on mortality and the fear of death than a comment on the Fukushima nuclear disaster.
More startling than the story was the range of emotions that Geminoid-f was able to convey. “Sometimes robots can express more than humans,” said Ishiguro at a post-screening event.
Gundam focus
The giant robots came courtesy of a focus on iconic...
- 10/27/2015
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
An android actress, giant anime robots and the legacy of Akira Kurosawa were among the offerings at this year’s Tokyo International Film Festival (Tiff), which as always presented an interesting mix of old and new.
Android Geminoid-f – created by robotics expert Hiroshi Ishiguro – is an eerily convincing lead actress in Koji Fukada’s Sayonara, which received its world premiere in Tiff’s competition section. Both Geminoid-f and Japanese-speaking actress Bryerly Long are reprising their roles from the short stage-play that the film is adapted from.
Although set in a near-future Japan contaminated by radiation, the film is more of a riff on mortality and the fear of death than a comment on the Fukushima nuclear disaster. More startling than the story was the range of emotions that Geminoid-f was able to convey. “Sometimes robots can express more than humans,” said Ishiguro at a post-screening event.
The giant robots came courtesy of a focus on iconic Japanese...
Android Geminoid-f – created by robotics expert Hiroshi Ishiguro – is an eerily convincing lead actress in Koji Fukada’s Sayonara, which received its world premiere in Tiff’s competition section. Both Geminoid-f and Japanese-speaking actress Bryerly Long are reprising their roles from the short stage-play that the film is adapted from.
Although set in a near-future Japan contaminated by radiation, the film is more of a riff on mortality and the fear of death than a comment on the Fukushima nuclear disaster. More startling than the story was the range of emotions that Geminoid-f was able to convey. “Sometimes robots can express more than humans,” said Ishiguro at a post-screening event.
The giant robots came courtesy of a focus on iconic Japanese...
- 10/27/2015
- by lizshackleton@gmail.com (Liz Shackleton)
- ScreenDaily
Professional actors beware! The Androids are coming to take your jobs! Geminoid-f, an ultra-realistic human-looking android is starring in a play that opened in a Tokyo theater in February. It is an intriguing fusion of theater arts and modern science.
Geminoid-f is the creation of Japanese robotics-genius Hiroshi Ishiguro. The android--a copy of a real woman in her 20s with long dark hair--can smile, frown and change facial expressions. Geminoid-f is being used as part of a theatrical experiment called the "Android/Human Theater" project, which is a collaboration between creator Ishiguro and Japanese director Oriza Hirata, who wrote and also directs the play “Sayonara” (“Goodbye”), in which Geminoid-f currently stars.
The 20-minute play "Sayonara" also stars a more traditional actress (meaning the flesh-and-blood kind) named Bryerly Long. Long portrays a young woman who has a fatal illness, and so her parents buy her an android to keep her company.
Geminoid-f is the creation of Japanese robotics-genius Hiroshi Ishiguro. The android--a copy of a real woman in her 20s with long dark hair--can smile, frown and change facial expressions. Geminoid-f is being used as part of a theatrical experiment called the "Android/Human Theater" project, which is a collaboration between creator Ishiguro and Japanese director Oriza Hirata, who wrote and also directs the play “Sayonara” (“Goodbye”), in which Geminoid-f currently stars.
The 20-minute play "Sayonara" also stars a more traditional actress (meaning the flesh-and-blood kind) named Bryerly Long. Long portrays a young woman who has a fatal illness, and so her parents buy her an android to keep her company.
- 3/4/2013
- by feeds@cinelinx.com (Rob Young)
- Cinelinx
One of the best films I've seen this year is director Ron Fricke's Samsara, a wordless documentary of images that provoke emotions. The title is a Sanskrit word that means "the ever turning wheel of life" and to capture that life, the images that make up the 102-minute film were captures in nearly a hundred locations across 25 countries over the course of five years. The result is one of the most moving theatrical experiences I have had the pleasure to be part of. Fricke and his production partner Mark Magidson have put together a film that touches on so many aspects of the human condition, our lives, the way we treat our world and those around us, religion, technology, what we eat, where it comes from and where it goes and it does all of this without a single piece of narration or on screen titles. 20 years ago the duo brought us Baraka,...
- 8/16/2012
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
It may be a holiday here in the States, but it's business as usual for the rest of the world, as evidenced by the news breaking today regarding the 2011 Sitges Film Festival, held 6-16 October on the Catalan coast of Spain. We have for you info on the fest's opening film as well as a programme preview.
From the Press Release: Sitges 2011 delves into the concept of artificial intelligence, examining how it’s been discussed in film and what its future prospects are in regard to fiction and reality.
With the tenth anniversary of A.I. (Steven Spielberg, 2000) as a point of contact, the Festival will consider the questions that inspired Kubrick and Spielberg for this project: the emotional intelligence of machines and communication between synthetic intelligences.
China, The Festival’s advertising agency, has developed this year’s posters based on the geminoids created by Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro in Japan. According to Rafa Antón,...
From the Press Release: Sitges 2011 delves into the concept of artificial intelligence, examining how it’s been discussed in film and what its future prospects are in regard to fiction and reality.
With the tenth anniversary of A.I. (Steven Spielberg, 2000) as a point of contact, the Festival will consider the questions that inspired Kubrick and Spielberg for this project: the emotional intelligence of machines and communication between synthetic intelligences.
China, The Festival’s advertising agency, has developed this year’s posters based on the geminoids created by Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro in Japan. According to Rafa Antón,...
- 7/4/2011
- by The Woman In Black
- DreadCentral.com
First came Geminoid, now there's Robokind. The diminutive educational robot coated with Frubber, a semi-convincing kind of synthetic robot skin, can replicate a great variety of human expressions. But is this a good thing?
The firm behind the Robokind devices has been working on this technology for some time. Now the latest product, a suite of knee-high droids intended for educational and research uses, has sprung Athena-like from the brain of company founder David Hanson and research into the soft, malleable "frubber" synthetic skin. The robot is powered by sophisticated servos that let it walk, gesture, and make extremely complex movements of its face--including aping brow movements, eye and eyelid movements and complicated mouth moves that can produce a smile. It's available as a range of robots with differing sophistication--the full bot with expressive head (be it an Einstein replica or one of the other male and female heads) and...
The firm behind the Robokind devices has been working on this technology for some time. Now the latest product, a suite of knee-high droids intended for educational and research uses, has sprung Athena-like from the brain of company founder David Hanson and research into the soft, malleable "frubber" synthetic skin. The robot is powered by sophisticated servos that let it walk, gesture, and make extremely complex movements of its face--including aping brow movements, eye and eyelid movements and complicated mouth moves that can produce a smile. It's available as a range of robots with differing sophistication--the full bot with expressive head (be it an Einstein replica or one of the other male and female heads) and...
- 3/11/2011
- by Kit Eaton
- Fast Company
Filed under: Trailers and Clips, Video, Cinematical
A few months ago we brought you video of a Japanese fembot named Geminoid-f, who made her acting debut on a theater stage alongside human performers. The lifelike android was created by Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, who had previously made an "angry" robo version of himself (meep!). Now, associate professor Henrik Scharfe is following suit by transforming himself into a Geminoid, which will be the first of its kind outside of Japan.
Like the Japanese Gem, this bot is also controlled by an operator -- proving humans aren't totally obsolete ... yet -- and the advanced software allows a transfer of facial expressions and more. According to the Geminoid research site, many people want to know if the robot is anatomically correct, but Scharfe's answer is vague. He does reveal that his wife prefers "body number 1" over the robot, so at least we know his...
A few months ago we brought you video of a Japanese fembot named Geminoid-f, who made her acting debut on a theater stage alongside human performers. The lifelike android was created by Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, who had previously made an "angry" robo version of himself (meep!). Now, associate professor Henrik Scharfe is following suit by transforming himself into a Geminoid, which will be the first of its kind outside of Japan.
Like the Japanese Gem, this bot is also controlled by an operator -- proving humans aren't totally obsolete ... yet -- and the advanced software allows a transfer of facial expressions and more. According to the Geminoid research site, many people want to know if the robot is anatomically correct, but Scharfe's answer is vague. He does reveal that his wife prefers "body number 1" over the robot, so at least we know his...
- 3/8/2011
- by Alison Nastasi
- Moviefone
Filed under: Trailers and Clips, Video, Cinematical
A few months ago we brought you video of a Japanese fembot named Geminoid-f, who made her acting debut on a theater stage alongside human performers. The lifelike android was created by Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, who had previously made an "angry" robo version of himself (meep!). Now, associate professor Henrik Scharfe is following suit by transforming himself into a Geminoid, which will be the first of its kind outside of Japan.
Like the Japanese Gem, this bot is also controlled by an operator -- proving humans aren't totally obsolete ... yet -- and the advanced software allows a transfer of facial expressions and more. According to the Geminoid research site, many people want to know if the robot is anatomically correct, but Scharfe's answer is vague. He does reveal that his wife prefers "body number 1" over the robot, so at least we know his...
A few months ago we brought you video of a Japanese fembot named Geminoid-f, who made her acting debut on a theater stage alongside human performers. The lifelike android was created by Professor Hiroshi Ishiguro, who had previously made an "angry" robo version of himself (meep!). Now, associate professor Henrik Scharfe is following suit by transforming himself into a Geminoid, which will be the first of its kind outside of Japan.
Like the Japanese Gem, this bot is also controlled by an operator -- proving humans aren't totally obsolete ... yet -- and the advanced software allows a transfer of facial expressions and more. According to the Geminoid research site, many people want to know if the robot is anatomically correct, but Scharfe's answer is vague. He does reveal that his wife prefers "body number 1" over the robot, so at least we know his...
- 3/8/2011
- by Alison Nastasi
- Cinematical
How would you feel if you met Danish Professor Henrik Scharfe and then moments later were introduced to another Henrik Scharfe, this time an almost identical android? A new Geminoid bot makes this possible.
How would you feel if you met Danish Professor Henrik Scharfe and then moments later were introduced to another Henrik Scharfe, this time an almost identical android? You can now actually do this, courtesy of a new Geminoid bot that points the way to our robotic future.
A product of Japanese scientist Hiroshi Ishiguro, the Geminoid series robots have always been a weird headline-grabbing affairs due to their incredibly convincing human "skins," but the latest version--Geminoid Dk--may have advanced the technology the furthest it's ever been. When you see the bot in action, and glance at its prototype, the real Professor Scharfe, you'll be hard pressed to not drop your jaw.
[youtube eZlLNVmaPbM]
Scharfe is an associate professor...
How would you feel if you met Danish Professor Henrik Scharfe and then moments later were introduced to another Henrik Scharfe, this time an almost identical android? You can now actually do this, courtesy of a new Geminoid bot that points the way to our robotic future.
A product of Japanese scientist Hiroshi Ishiguro, the Geminoid series robots have always been a weird headline-grabbing affairs due to their incredibly convincing human "skins," but the latest version--Geminoid Dk--may have advanced the technology the furthest it's ever been. When you see the bot in action, and glance at its prototype, the real Professor Scharfe, you'll be hard pressed to not drop your jaw.
[youtube eZlLNVmaPbM]
Scharfe is an associate professor...
- 3/7/2011
- by Kit Eaton
- Fast Company
Smartphones are getting smarter, and telepresence robots are hitting the mainstream--create a mashup and you get Elfoid, a "phone" that can also share emotions via a mini-me bot you keep in your pocket.
Elfoid, revealed in Japan today, is a product of the Advanced Telecommunications Research International--and specifically of the mind of famous roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro. It's a chunky, grippable Kewpie-doll-sized android that's primarily a phone for transmitting voice but also broadcasts "human presence" from one point to another.
When you make a call to your distant Elfoid-owning loved one, your face is scanned by a computer that captures the motions of your features and head. This data is transmitted alongside the typical voice channel using standard 3G phone protocols. A suite of motors and actuators in the Elfoid try to manipulate the tiny droid's generic features to copy your actual moves. The little bot has a skin that feels "soft to the touch,...
Elfoid, revealed in Japan today, is a product of the Advanced Telecommunications Research International--and specifically of the mind of famous roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro. It's a chunky, grippable Kewpie-doll-sized android that's primarily a phone for transmitting voice but also broadcasts "human presence" from one point to another.
When you make a call to your distant Elfoid-owning loved one, your face is scanned by a computer that captures the motions of your features and head. This data is transmitted alongside the typical voice channel using standard 3G phone protocols. A suite of motors and actuators in the Elfoid try to manipulate the tiny droid's generic features to copy your actual moves. The little bot has a skin that feels "soft to the touch,...
- 3/3/2011
- by Kit Eaton
- Fast Company
Year: 2010
Director: Jens Schanze
Writers: Jens Schanze, Judith Malek-Mahdavi
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: Marina Antunes
Rating: 6 out of 10
Once a thing of dreams and scifi novels, artificial intelligence (AI) is commonplace today in everything from likeness engines to video games. What once started as a concept that if you can get a machine to do it, life would be much easier, has now turned into a nightmare scenario for some who believe that if a machine can do it, humans will be rendered useless. The world of James Cameron’s The Terminator is closer to reality than some of us care to imagine.
Jens Schanze’s documentary Plug & Pray attempts to shed a light on the ethics of AI. With the last interviews of Joseph Weizenbaum, a German/American professor of computer science and one of AI’s most vocal opponents, as the voice of the opposition, Schanze...
Director: Jens Schanze
Writers: Jens Schanze, Judith Malek-Mahdavi
IMDb: link
Trailer: link
Review by: Marina Antunes
Rating: 6 out of 10
Once a thing of dreams and scifi novels, artificial intelligence (AI) is commonplace today in everything from likeness engines to video games. What once started as a concept that if you can get a machine to do it, life would be much easier, has now turned into a nightmare scenario for some who believe that if a machine can do it, humans will be rendered useless. The world of James Cameron’s The Terminator is closer to reality than some of us care to imagine.
Jens Schanze’s documentary Plug & Pray attempts to shed a light on the ethics of AI. With the last interviews of Joseph Weizenbaum, a German/American professor of computer science and one of AI’s most vocal opponents, as the voice of the opposition, Schanze...
- 10/12/2010
- QuietEarth.us
I'm digging the spiritual aspect of this.
Will man go beyond biology? It's an age-old dream to create intelligent machines that equal their human creators. Computer experts around the world, like Raymond Kurzweil and Hiroshi Ishiguro, strive to fulfill their bold visions. Meanwhile, of all people one of the pioneers of the computer age, Joseph Weizenbaum, battles against the limitless faith of society in the redemptive powers of technology. A fascinating yet uncanny and sometimes grotesque journey into science reality.
Trailer after the break.
Embedded video stripped, see full HTML version.
Will man go beyond biology? It's an age-old dream to create intelligent machines that equal their human creators. Computer experts around the world, like Raymond Kurzweil and Hiroshi Ishiguro, strive to fulfill their bold visions. Meanwhile, of all people one of the pioneers of the computer age, Joseph Weizenbaum, battles against the limitless faith of society in the redemptive powers of technology. A fascinating yet uncanny and sometimes grotesque journey into science reality.
Trailer after the break.
Embedded video stripped, see full HTML version.
- 9/29/2010
- QuietEarth.us
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