Dear science fiction fans,
welcome to the 11th annual Future Gate Science Fiction Film Festival. This year’s theme can’t be anything other than artificial intelligence. Large language models and generative neural networks may not appear in the media as much anymore but their impacts are felt all the more in everything we do in life.
All of us have learned to use them in some way and have become accustomed to them. Multinational corporations are trying to automate everything that can be automated. From PR to law, from management to cybersecurity, from logistics to accounting. A lot of professions are having a harder time, illustrators and translators could share a story or three. But a lot of fields are finally starting to handle a huge amount of work that can’t be done without AI. For example, client support or online security.
By and large, we’re experiencing the next stage of the science and technology revolution, perhaps the most intense one yet. But it’s still nothing compared to how the world would change if humanity created a general artificial intelligence, a machine that learns to solve any problem and sets its own goals. In fact, current neural networks have to be intricately trained for any problem, and while they are fascinating at generating text, for example, ChatGPT simply can’t drive a car.
But if general AI could be developed (and that’s a big if), there probably would be no end to surprises. We can’t even imagine how a machine, many times smarter than all humans combined, would get along with humanity. And it is here that we find an inspirational moment of science fiction that fascinates and entertains us. Karel Čapek, Isaac Asimov, Terminator, Battlestar Galactica or even Návštěvníci (The Visitors with Dada Patrasová) show us what forms such an encounter could take.
These are the forms that this year’s film programme will explore. Artificial intelligence has fascinated filmmakers since the beginning of the genre, so we can include the historic 1927 film Metropolis, which has lost none of its relevance. Moreover, it is silent, so instead of a piano, it is accompanied by a custom-made live modular synth set by HRTL. You can also look forward to a number of documentaries about topical issues such as deep fakes or possible future developments. AI is also covered in our accompanying programme.
8 international filmmakers will visit the festival. Among them is a special guest, director Terry Gilliam, who will receive an award for his contribution to the science fiction genre during the opening ceremony in Lucerna. We will also screen Gilliam’s films 12 Monkeys and Brazil.
There’s definitely something to look forward to, so make sure you take a good look at the programme so you don’t miss a thing.
Enjoy the festival!