Since 1985, the Sundance Film Festival has fostered independent voices, and 2020 is notable for having a large number of films celebrating diversity and inclusion, a few with a Chicago connection. This year featured films showcasing a wide range of topics including disability rights, sex work, LGBTQ+ themes, mid-life crisis, politics, #MeToo, artificial intelligence, and murder.
Coded Bias While not a horror movie, Coded Bias might be the most terrifying film on this list. MIT Media Lab researcher and wunderkind Joy Buolamwini initially embarks on a what is supposed to be a light-hearted project involving facial recognition technology, until she discovers that it doesn’t work well on dark faces. Pulling that thread unravels the underworld of AI technology currently utilized without oversight or legislation and could potentially deny access to credit, jobs, and freedom. Explained in easily digestible language that even the most computer illiterate could follow, Buloamwini and director Shalini Kantayya introduce complex concepts, like the “black box.” Coded Bias takes you to the front lines of the digital revolution—a revolution that may have, unfortunately, already been won by the wrong side.
Into the Deep This heartbreaking documentary outlines the final days of Swedish journalist Kim Wall before she was brutally murdered by Danish inventor Peter Madsen on his homemade submarine. Filmmaker and director Emma Sullivan had been in the process of filming Madsen, who was a noted celebrity for his quirky projects. She unexpectedly captured harrowing and heart-wrenching footage that reveals his madness. Madsen was surrounded by a group of young idealists who assisted him in his adventures and acknowledged that he was “unique,” yet had no clue as to the depths of his depravity. Into the Deep excavates their emotions as they begin to come to terms with exactly who he was and what he was capable of. This is the kind of film that will make you second-guess yourself and your perception of the world.
