Sophia
Synopsis
Inventor David Hanson is on a relentless quest to bring compassion and consciousness to Sophia, the most recognized humanoid robot in the world. As capitalist expectations threaten his lifelong vision, and with Sophia’s future in the balance, SOPHIA poses pressing questions around AI, the idea of engineering empathy, and what it means to be human.
Connect
Learn more about Sophia the Robot here:
The Filmmakers
Jon Kasbe Director
Jon Kasbe is an Emmy Award-winning Australian-Indian director and cinematographer. His debut feature, "When Lambs Become Lions," was a 2017 Sundance Documentary Fund recipient, won Best Editing at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival, and was nominated for two 2019 IDA Awards in Best Cinematography and Best Editing. The film was released theatrically across the United States by Oscilloscope Laboratories and is now available worldwide on VOD. His short films have screened at festivals worldwide and been recognized by SXSW, Hot Docs, Webbys, Vimeo Staff Picks, Camerimage Film Festival, Zurich Film Festival, Sheffield Film Festival, and National Geographic. In 2018 he was selected for DOC NYC's inaugural 40 Under 40 list. He is currently developing a new film in Concordia Studios Artist-in-Residence.
Crystal Moselle Director
New York based director Crystal Moselle is a storyteller of both documentary and fiction films. She is best known for her Sundance, Grand Jury Prize award winning documentary, “The Wolfpack” which was later distributed by Magnolia Pictures. Crystal discovered the Angulo brothers who were the subjects of the documentary on the streets of New York. In the past she worked on short form projects with publications such as The New York Times, Vice and Nowness. After the success of Wolfpack she met a group of female skateboarders on the train, who would become her main collaborators and subjects on three projects. The first was a narrative short “That One Day” which she produced in collaboration with Miu Miu and saw its premiere at the 73rd Venice International Film Festival. Shorlty after that they expanded the film into a feature, which Crystal co-wrote and directed named after the infamous group "Skate Kitchen", which premiered at Sundance 2018 and was later distributed by Magnolia to critical acclaim. In the same year, Crystal was nominated for the Breakthrough Director Award at the Gotham Awards for her direction of the film. The third collaboration is the upcoming HBO series “Betty”.
Festivals & Awards
Tribeca Film Festival
2022
World Premiere
Nominee - Best Documentary Feature
Mill Valley Film Festival
2022
Official Selection
Mountainfilm Festival
2022
Official Selection
The International Film Festival of the Art of Cinematography Camerimage
2022
Nominee - Golden Frog - Feature Documentary Films Competition
Reviews
“Absorbing…Over several years, we observe this gentle Dr. Frankenstein juggle work goals and the demands of home life as his hazel-eyed humanoid evolves.”
-The New York Times
“Fascinating…Epic…SOPHIA is filled with the grandeur that Hanson’s big idea demands, but illuminates the constraints of what Hanson and his small team are capable of.”
-The Moveable Fest
“A precise, fascinating portrait…[Its] deep and unsettling ambivalence gives SOPHIA both its power and its impact…The film reads simultaneously as a celebratory and cautionary tale that gives equal time to disparate, yet deeply human contradictions.”
-Point of View Magazine