Hi, AI

Humanoid robots are like new creatures on our planet. They work at reception desks, in shopping malls or as chefs. And they are coming into our private lives…

„With an A.I., you have to keep your sentences short and to the point.“ This piece of advice is given to Chuck as he’s picking up his new robot partner Harmony fresh from the factory. Together they go on a road trip through California. As it turns out at a second glancing, the sex robot Harmony likes books and can ad lib quote Ray Kurzweil.

In Tokyo, Grandma Sakurai is introduced to the cute robot Pepper, a present from her son, so she has someone to keep her company. But soon Pepper turns out to be quite capricious, finding the old lady’s conversation topics of little interest.

While Harmony and Chuck are searching for love, and Pepper and Grandma are killing time, pressing questions arise: How will robots and artificial intelligence change our lives? What will we win, what will we lose? And, who will be the main actors in the future world? The documentary shows us tomorrow’s world today.

Isa Willinger is a documentary filmmaker from Munich. She studied film at the University of Television and Film Munich and she has an MA in Slavic Studies and American Studies. Isa spent one year in New York City, on a Fulbright scholarship, enrolling in film and sociology programs at the New School University. In 2010, she started researching the Constructivist buildings, while she lived in Moscow on a scholarship by the DAAD. Isa has been working on topics like gender, social upheavals, human rights, film theory and embodied film perception. Michael Ballhaus produced a social spot that she wrote and directed, dealing with energy consumption.

Writer & Director
Isa Willinger

Producer
Stefan Kloos

Cinematography
Julian Krubasik

Editor
Stephan Krumbiegel
Olaf Voigtländer

Line Producer
Maria Shilik
Veronika Janatková

Music
Robert Pilgram

Sound
Tim Höfer
Yoshitake Hashimoto

Sound Design & Re-Recording Mixing
Clemens Becker
Philipp Sellier

Production
Kloos & Co. Medien

Commissioning Editor ZDF / Das kleine Fernsehspiel
Claudia Tronnier

World Sales
Rise and Shine World Sales

Die Beauftragte der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien
FilmFernsehFonds Bayern
Deutscher Filmförderfonds
Kuratorium junger deutscher Film
Creative Europe Programme – MEDIA of the European Union

Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis 2019
Best Documentary

German Film Award 2019
Nomination as Best Documentary

XIVth International Science and Educational Film Festival „The World of Knowledge“, St. Petersburg, 2019
Grand Prix

World Premiere
Filmfestival Max Ophüls Preis 2019, Saarbrücken, Germany

Internationale Premiere
CPH:DOX 2019, Copenhagen, Denmark

Further Festivals (Selection)
Visions du Réel 2019, Nyon, Switzerland
Hot Docs International Documentary Festival 2019, Toronto, Canada
Silbersalz-Festival 2019, Halle (Saale), Germany
Beldocs – Belgrade Documentary Film Festival 2019, Serbia
Millennium Docs Against Gravity 2019, Poland
Resene Architecture & Design Festival 2019, Aukland, New Zealand
Sheffield Doc/Fest 2019, UK
Odessa Film Festival 2019, Ukraine
Filmfestival Kitzbühel 2019, Austria
Brisbane International Filmfestival 2019, Australia
Bratislava One World Film Festival 2019, Slovakia
Montréal Nouveau Cinema 2019, Canada
Cambridge Film Festival 2019, UK
Antenna Film Festival 2019, Sydney, Australia
Margaret Mead-Film Festival 2019, New York, USA
International Science Films Festival 2019, St. Petersburg, Russia
Docville – Documentary Film Festival Leuven 2019, Belgium
Camerimage 2019, Łódź, Poland
Verzio – International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival 2019, Budapest, Hungary
IDFA – International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam 2019, The Netherlands
Milano Design Film Festival – #MDFF WORLD TOUR 2019, Hong Kong

Buy DVD here: www.riseandshine-shop.de/produkt/hi-ai
Stream online here: https://vimeo.com/ondemand/hiaifilm