Abigail Child's new documentary Origin of the Species is set to have its world premiere during the online edition of DOC NYC international documentary film festival.
Maverick American artist Abigail Child explores the complex and provocative intersections of humanity, gender, sexuality and robotics in the dynamic documentary, ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES
We have an exclusive clip to share with you today. It's something a little more comfortable than jumping right into gender and sexuality off the hop. War. We always thought that the reality of a Daniel H. Wilson novel was still a ways off but robotics already have a place in the global military installtion. Check it out below.
The world premiere of Origin of the Species is set for the 2020 edition of DOC NYC, running November 11-19th.
From the brilliant mind of Abigail Child, filmmaker/poet/writer, whose prolific body of work has transfixed and challenged audiences since the 1970's, comes her latest cinematic provocation ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES. Deftly blending experimental techniques, innovative soundscapes and cinema vérité, this wholly unique documentary work will have it's World premiere at DOC NYC the renowned international documentary film festival, running November 11 – 19th. The 2020 edition of the festival will take place exclusively online (US audiences only). Included with the screening ticket is an exclusive pre-recorded Q&A with Director, Producer, Camera, Co-editor Abigail Child, immediately following the film.About the filmAn experimental feature documentary that explores current realities of android development with a focus on human/machine relations, gender & the ethical implications of this research. The film records cutting edge laboratories in Japan & the USA where scientists attempt to make robots move, speak & look human. These scientists & their discoveries are contextualized with cinematic & pop culture references, to underline the mythic, comic & uncanny aspects of our aspirations.We are led on these explorations by BINA48, (Breakthrough Intelligence via Neural Architecture) who has variously been called a sentient robot, an android, a gynoid, and a cybernetic companion. She is modeled after a black lesbian, and designed to test hypotheses concerning the ability to download a person's consciousness into a non-biological or nanotech body. Personable and occasionally humorous, BINA48 is alternately hopeful, analytical and ambiguous.The last in Child's trilogy of female desire, ORIGIN OF THE SPECIES reveals the contemporary dance between metal and flesh, as humans become more mechanical (bio replacements, dependence on computers/phones) while robots, those human mirrors, aim for consciousness.The film brings a necessary female perspective (and humor) to this research, asking: How subjectivities and nationalities shape our imaginings of an “appropriate” mechanical companion? Why are Siri and Alexa ‘fitted’ with female voices?