The Social Dilemma

The University(en)

On a NASA research base in Silicon Valley, there's an organization that's changing the world ... Singularity University (SU). Created by renowned futurist Ray Kurzweil and entrepreneur Peter Diamandis, with support from NASA, Google, and others, the university brings in some of the smartest students from around the world, and gives them a crash course in the most powerful exponential technologies on the planet. The students are then given a challenge: create companies that will impact a billion people within ten years. The film follows the students and their companies over five years, as they use the support of scientists, astronauts and billionaires in their attempt to make a dent in the universe.

Ausgerastet und abgestürzt: Der Fall des Angry German Kid(de)

Be it as ‘Unreal Tournament Kid’, ‘KeyboardCrasher’, or ‘Angry German Kid’: Almost everywhere across the world this video of a youth who freaks out whilst playing on the computer and destroys his keyboard is known. Many still share it today as a meme when chatting without knowing that it was staged. Also: the young guy never uploaded the video himself. Powerless, he had to witness how it was shared and distorted countless times – how it destroyed a part of his life. Now, for the first time, Norman Kochanowski speaks with ZAPP about his story and the consequences of virality.

For People in Trouble(en)

When two people meet one night in London, their relationship blossoms and fractures, intertwined with impending societal collapse.

Due to Unforeseen Circumstances...(en)

A doomer discovers freedom through despair over the course of a fateful night in self-isolation during the COVID-19 crisis. Shot with zero budget entirely in quarantine.

Taste of Cherry(fa)

A middle-aged Tehranian man, Mr. Badii is intent on killing himself and seeks someone to bury him after his demise. Driving around the city, the seemingly well-to-do Badii meets with numerous people, including a Muslim student, asking them to take on the job, but initially he has little luck. Eventually, Badii finds a man who is up for the task because he needs the money, but his new associate soon tries to talk him out of committing suicide.

Land of White Alice(en)

Film sponsored by Western Electric (AT&T's equipment manufacturing division), the builder of the United States Air Force's White Alice Communications System in Alaska. Introduces the people and geography of the new state as well as the Western Electric radio-relay system, which links far-flung military sites, alert stations, and missile-warning facilities. Ralph Caplan praised the film's "intrinsically dramatic and highly photogenic" portrayal of communications equipment.

It Girl(es)

Overwhelmed by her husband’s medical bills, Sofia takes a desperate measure: she becomes an egoblogger.

Mashed Media(en)

From the front lines of the bankrupt Chicago Tribune, to the vibrant local online publishing and start-up scene, pioneering journalists struggle to reinvent a storied, yet troubled industry. "Mashed Media" visits bloggers, independent publishers, hacker journalists, and social media mavens working in the trenches of Chicago, providing a rare and intimate look at the future of journalism now.

Elsewhere(en)

A teen girl disappears after trying to meet men online in order to escape her small town. Apparently, only her best friend worries enough to investigate the mystery.

Touch(he)

A dark romantic comedy in the age of social media. Adele is an aggressive, self-conscious 17-year-old girl who spends most of her time "trolling" (i.e insulting) her classmates online. When she is hit on by another internet troll, Uri, they flirt until he urges her to send a picture in which she is actually visible. But instead of sending her own picture, Adele sends Uri a picture of a random pretty girl from Syria - sparking another unexpected relationship.

Best of Luck with the Wall(en)

A video directed by Josh Begley shows the preposterous effort that would be required to build a border wall.

The Conversation(en)

A paranoid, secretive surveillance expert has a crisis of conscience when he suspects that the couple he is spying on will be murdered.

Glitch(ar)

Nabil's life changes as an engineering company invades his house, claiming to build the house of the future as a solution to the pollution/trash crisis, infusing weird technology into his old traditional house.

Machine of Human Dreams(en)

A.I. guru Ben Goertzel grew up in a hippie community in Oregon during the Vietnam War. Inspired by science fiction, he imagined a perfect rational world that would transcend 1970s’ America. Ben has dedicated his life to developing OpenCog, a software that models the human mind. If Ben’s design works, OpenCog will become a human-like general intelligence. But for OpenCog to work, it needs a body.

Untraceable(en)

Special Agent Jennifer Marsh works in an elite division of the FBI dedicated to fighting cybercrime. She thinks she has seen it all, until a particularly sadistic criminal arises on the Internet. This tech-savvy killer posts live feeds of his crimes on his website; the more hits the site gets, the faster the victim dies. Marsh and her team must find the elusive killer before time runs out.

The Betrayal by Technology: A Portrait of Jacques Ellul(nl)

A portrait of Jacques Ellul, a French theologian/sociologist & anarchist who first became well-known to American readers with the English publishing of his book The Technological Society in 1964. For Ellul, technique represented an entire way of life characterized by life fragmented so that efficiency ultimately rules over all ethical decisions. Ellul warned that technique was having drastic effects on all aspects of modern life. Many Green Anarchists have cited Ellul's work on technique as influential on their thought.

Piece of Paradise(en)

Alex returns to a lifeless home that she ran away from at a young age. Once home, she begins filming a video about her past life but begins to question why she is putting her misery on display instead of doing what makes her happy.

This Is Zoe(en)

Zoe's reserved nature speaks volumes when her familiar, unwanted inner critic comes out to play.

The Blue Whale(ar)

A provincial Russian town is ravaged by a wave of inexplicable teen suicides. Rebellious and sharp-witted schoolgirl Dana grieves for her younger sister, a once-happy kid who suddenly withdrew and stepped in front of a train. Desperate to learn what happened, Dana explores her sister’s online history, discovering a sinister social-media game that encourages youths to take an escalating series of self-harm challenges – 50 tasks in 50 days. Beginning with actions designed to alienate them from friends and family, the challenge breaks its victims lives apart to push them past any point of return. Hungry for answers and out for revenge, Dana registers for the game, opening a doorway into the cruelest of hidden online worlds. One that will jeopardize the lives of everyone she cares about.

Runaway(en)

In the near future, a police officer specializes in malfunctioning robots. When a robot turns out to have been programmed to kill, he begins to uncover a homicidal plot to create killer robots... and his son becomes a target.

David Attenborough: A Life on Our Planet(en)

The story of life on our planet by the man who has seen more of the natural world than any other. In more than 90 years, Attenborough has visited every continent on the globe, exploring the wild places of our planet and documenting the living world in all its variety and wonder. Addressing the biggest challenges facing life on our planet, the film offers a powerful message of hope for future generations.

My Octopus Teacher(en)

After years of swimming every day in the freezing ocean at the tip of Africa, Craig Foster meets an unlikely teacher: a young octopus who displays remarkable curiosity. Visiting her den and tracking her movements for months on end he eventually wins the animal’s trust and they develop a never-before-seen bond between human and wild animal.

American Murder: The Family Next Door(en)

Using raw, firsthand footage, this documentary examines the disappearance of Shanann Watts and her children, and the terrible events that followed.

Private Life(en)

Richard and Rachel, a couple in the throes of infertility, try to maintain their marriage as they descend deeper and deeper into the insular world of assisted reproduction and domestic adoption.

The Last Kiss(it)

Giulia and Carlo have been happy together for three years, but Giulia's announcement that she is pregnant sends him into a secret panic. Terrified at his imminent entry into the adult world of irreversible responsibilities, Carlo finds himself tempted by a bewitching 18-year-old girl, Francesca, whom he meets by chance at a wedding. The possibility of one last youthful crazy fling before the impending prison of parenthood proves to be too attractive to resist.

The Trial of the Chicago 7(en)

What was supposed to be a peaceful protest turned into a violent clash with the police. What followed was one of the most notorious trials in history.

The Great Hack(en)

Data—arguably the world’s most valuable asset—is being weaponized to wage cultural and political wars. The dark world of data exploitation is uncovered through the unpredictable, personal journeys of players on different sides of the explosive Cambridge Analytica/Facebook data story.

American Factory(en)

In post-industrial Ohio, a Chinese billionaire opens a new factory in the husk of an abandoned General Motors plant, hiring two thousand blue-collar Americans. Early days of hope and optimism give way to setbacks as high-tech China clashes with working-class America.

The Public(en)

An act of civil disobedience turns into a standoff with police when homeless people in Cincinnati take over the public library to seek shelter from the bitter cold.

Have a Good Trip: Adventures in Psychedelics(en)

Celebrities recall their most mind-bending trips via animations, reenactments and more in this comedic documentary exploring the story of psychedelics.

Amici come noi(it)

A Son Named Erasmus(it)

Four friends in their 40s find out a deceased old flame of theirs had a child, conceived with one of them during an Erasmus (EU student exchange program) in Portugal 20 years earlier. They embark on a journey in search of the offspring, while waiting for the DNA results to find out which one is the father.

The 10th Victim(it)

In the near future, big wars are avoided by giving individuals with violent tendencies a chance to kill in the Big Hunt. The Hunt is the most popular form of entertainment in the world and also attracts participants who are looking for fame and fortune. It includes ten rounds for each competitor, five as the hunter and five as the victim.

One Child Nation(en)

Through interviews with both victims and instigators, Nanfu Wang, a first-time mother, breaks open decades of silence on a vast, unprecedented social experiment that shaped — and destroyed — countless lives in China.

The Lion(fr)

A psychiatric hospital patient pretends to be crazy. In charge of caring for this patient, a caregiver will begin to doubt the mental state of his "protégé".

The Speed Cubers(en)

This documentary captures the extraordinary twists and turns in the journeys of Rubik's Cube-solving champions Max Park and Feliks Zemdegs.

A Secret Love(en)

Amid shifting times, two women kept their decades-long love a secret. But coming out later in life comes with its own set of challenges.

Operation Varsity Blues: The College Admissions Scandal(en)

An examination that goes beyond the celebrity-driven headlines and dives into the methods used by Rick Singer, the man at the center of the shocking 2019 college admissions scandal, to persuade his wealthy clients to cheat an educational system already designed to benefit the privileged.

Hitting the Apex(en)

The inside story of six fighters – six of the fastest motorcycle racers of all time – and of the fates that awaited them at the peak of the sport. It's the story of what is at stake for all of them: all that can be won, and all that can be lost, when you go chasing glory at over two hundred miles an hour – on a motorcycle. But this documentary is also an opportunity to understand the passionate relationship that links the pilots, the technical teams and the legions of fans to the spirit of GP Moto.

Colossus: The Forbin Project(en)

The U.S. has handed over control of its nuclear defense system to the Colossus supercomputer designed by scientist Dr. Charles Forbin. It soon becomes clear, that the now-sentient Colossus is far more intelligent than its creator realized—with the fate of the world hanging in the balance.