The premiere of two new short films that expand the possibilities of filmmaking, while centering bold, personal and poignant narratives. This event marks the culmination of a year-round program supporting the creation of original live-action works inspired by, and integrated with, emerging technologies. These films were completed in collaboration with OpenAI, who provided a full suite of tools and skills to support and expand the creative process. Both films - one scripted, and one hybrid documentary - explore memory, perception, and survival of a shifting landscape through an evolving cinematic toolkit.

After the screening: A conversation with filmmakers, moderated by Reza Sixo Safai

SMOKED
Directed by Alice Gu
Produced by Andrew D. Corkin and John Lang
Cast: Jane Levy, Eric Balfour, and Ben Lewis Doherty

Amid a raging wildfire, a mother’s search for her son’s plushie becomes a desperate fight to preserve his childhood innocence and her own dwindling sanity. A story of survival, love, and the inanity of customer service - based on the director’s lived experience of the Palisades fires.

Mauvais Soleil (Sunburned)
Directed by Youssef Michraf
Produced by Leo Blumberg-Woll

A filmmaker asks a sorcerer—an artificial intelligence—to give him the face he dreamed of as a teenager. Instead, it gives him another: inhuman. Intrigued by this synthetic figure that has taken his place in an old family photograph, he sets out through the streets of Casablanca to understand what it embodies.