A.RTIFICIAL I.MMORTALITY

Opening Film, 2021 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival

Official Selection, 2021 Busan International Film Festival

The latest documentary from Ann Shin (My Enemy, My Brother, SDAFF 2017 Grand Jury Award) is inspired by a personal experience: seeing her father lose his memory due to dementia. Not being able to retrieve his “memory files” made Shin wonder if there was a way for us to retain a sense of self even when we lose our faculties.

This film invites us to ponder both the philosophical and the practical. What is the essence of being human, and can it be replicated? If you could preserve your consciousness forever, would you? Shin explores these questions with transhumanists, neuroscientists, AI developers, science fiction writers, philosophers, and even Deepak Chopra—both the organic version and his AI mind twin, Digital Deepak.

No longer just a sci-fi concept, the idea of creating AI versions of ourselves and those we love is a foreseeable reality. Shin herself signs up to be uploaded as an AI clone as a way to preserve her essence for her children. Perhaps this is what immortality can look like, in a future where we interact with loved ones who are no longer with us, to hear them tell our favorite stories once more.

—Wilda Wong

Preceded By

Cheyenne

Directed by Rich Underwood

A moving and inspiring portrait of a young woman’s search for a kidney, and the loved ones and healthcare workers who join her journey.