CRAFT & ENCODE present: I Am Mother (2019)

Set in the claustrophobic space of a secluded undergound bunker at an undisclosed location on a supposedly ravaged earth, we meet a fully autonomous robot – Mother – put in charge of bringing up and educating a human girl – Daughter – as a step towards repopulating the planet. In the style of short story science fiction the viewer is left in the dark about key elements contextualizing a minimalist plot line. As such, the nature of and responsibility for the catastrophe that has destroyed human civilisation remains a mystery and neither is the precise context for the evolving relationship between Mother and Daughter explained in any detail.

Sputore only used a few limited locations for his film that features only three actors: aformentioned Mother and Daughter and a woman suddenly entering the bunker and threatening to reshuffle the relationship between human and machine. I Am Mother refrains from action sequences and employs a slow and interrogating camera to explore issues such as machinic care, human nature, and the possibility of improving humanity my means of machinic guidance. In the end, not everything is as it first appeared and difficult questions remain. In a world of perfect humans, what about those who do not meet the established criteria?

The movie poses many interesting questions that point back to key areas we have discussed in the previous 8 screenings over the past three semesters. We are looking forward to taking up those threads again and to continuing our inspiring exchange with you after the screening. As usual the discussion will be lead by Zoheb Mashiur (CRAFT) and Holger Pötzsch (ENCODE).

Courtesy our partners at Verdensteatret Cinematek, the screening of I Am Mother is free of charge!

The screening of I Am Mother is the 9th in a series of films on autonomous technologies,  AI, and human-machine relations presented by CRAFT and ENCODE in cooperation with Verdensteatret Cinematek.