Syrian Film “Digital Tyranny” takes part in the International Cedar Short Film Festival in Morrocco

The Syrian short documentary film “Digital Tyranny”, directed by the Syrian filmmaker Almohannad Kalthoum, is currently taking part in the official documentary film competition of the 25th International Cedar Short Film Festival in Morrocco, held between November 7th and 10th under the title “Creative Youth is the Future of Cinema”.

20 narrative and documentary films, representing 15 countries, will compete to get the Golden Cedar prizes of the festival.

The film “Digital Tyranny”, scripted by Samer Mohammad Ismael and produced by the Development Media Directorate at the Ministry of Information, delves deep in the world of Artificial Intelligence (AI) to reflect humanity’s hopes, fears and moral dilemma under the advanced technology.

“Tackling topics related to AI reflects an increasing interest in discovering the impact of technology on society and culture and in shedding light on the positive and negative aspects of using this modern technology”, Director of the film Almohannad Kalthoum told “Syria Times”.

He said that “Digital Tyranny” is a new documentary film that will be screened for the first time in this festival, hoping that it will gain the interaction of the audience as it depicts an important modern issue that all people are interested in, namely Artificial Intelligence (AI).

“We are actually living in an age of digital tyranny. Many people feel that AI is taking them to the unknown, as it exists in the details of their daily life and is used in a harmful way, and they fear that robots may take their jobs in future”, Kalthoum added.

On the other hand, he pointed out, many people believe that AI is suitable and helpful in many fields. “For me, modern technology is important and since man is the one who invented Artificial Intelligence, and before that he invented the internet, so he can control its use. We have to explore the fields that are suitable for this technology and work so it becomes a helpful factor in people’s works in future”, he explained.

He also said that AI will be of great help if people use it properly to meet their needs and serve humanity without allowing it to control them.

“Artificial Intelligence is very important in cinema and the film that is made professionally with the help of AI technology, will be a great film. Cinema was the first to deal with this technology through introducing robots in the films and creating different kinds of relation between man and the robot, even making them exchange feelings and work together. Imagination also allowed the creation of love stories between a man and a robot in cinema”, he pointed out, expressing hope that his film will gain the admiration of the audience.

The 25th edition of the festival, organized by the Screen Club Association for Children and Youth in Morocco, is distinguished in terms of the diverse films, dialogue sessions, honoring ceremonies and training workshops.

According to the organizers, the festival is a fertile training ground for young cinema professionals from all around the globe.

Hamda Mustafa