DO BANGLADROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC TAGORE?

written and directed by Aleem Hossain

a sci-fi short film - world premiere Fantastic Fest 2024

disclosure: contains AI generated content

In the near future, a Bangladeshi-American documentarian explores what the Bangladroids recall of their homeland.

Featuring the poem “Freedom” by Rabindranath Tagore - read by Bernard White.

This film is my contribution to the Desi-futurism movement… a body of sci-fi work that dares to imagine speculative futures through a South Asian lens. I also think the best sci-fi is often contrarian. We spend a lot of time these days worrying about how AI and other technology will impact us but I think we should also be thinking about our moral and ethical responsibilities towards what we create.

This film is almost entirely AI generated. I wrote the script and then generated all the images in Midjourney. I animated many of the images in After Effects. The voiceover, an archival audio file, and a key poetry reading at the end of the film are all human created but the other audio is also computer generated. Some of you reading this might have misgivings. I get it. I’m upset too and I think your concerns are valid. The truth is, I am simultaneously deeply skeptical and very excited about this technology. I think that there are serious ethical issues, most obviously those related to intellectual property and labor. I have no faith that the big tech companies behind these tools are looking out for artists or the world at large. I think we should be advocating for legislation, fighting for labor agreements, and suing for transparency.

I also think it’s amazing that this technology has allowed me to create a South Asian arty faux-documentary that no one would ever fund and that I could not make on my own - and one that I (perhaps paradoxically) feel a real sense of authorship in having made. I joined the picket line during the WGA-SAG strike, extremely concerned by what will happen as this tech permeates Hollywood (and our world). I also found great joy and affirmation in being able to create this Desi-Futurist work art that is about AI and made with AI tech. These are complicated times and I am a terrified and ecstatic explorer. I welcome the debate and discussion.