Doc 'The Technological Sublime' Exposes AI’s Hidden Costs — SkimNews
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Jannes Callens directed 'The Technological Sublime,' a documentary that traces AI’s physical supply chain across four continents, aiming to expose the ecological and human costs often hidden by the technology’s abstract image.
- Steven Dhoedt is producing the film, drawn to its grounded approach amid AI hype, and emphasizes its non-sensational, timeless framing as a necessary counterpoint to dominant narratives.
- Belgian broadcaster VRT has joined the project as a funding partner, with additional talks underway with other European broadcasters to secure further financing and distribution.
- Visualantics, Cobra Films, Tag Film, and Reel Asia Pictures are co-producing the documentary, marking a multinational collaboration between Belgium, France, and Taiwan.
- James Chia-Hao Hsu of Reel Asia Pictures is partnering with the production team to promote the film at TCCF and initiate conversations with Asian distributors and sales agents.
- The Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF), organized by TAICCA, will host the project from November 6–9 at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, serving as a launch platform for the documentary in Asia.
Why it matters: The film shifts focus from AI’s futuristic promises to its tangible environmental and labor costs, challenging tech narratives with a rare ground-level view. For audiences and funders, this reframing makes visible the hidden infrastructure behind AI—quartz, lithium, undersea cables, and low-wage digital labor—offering a corrective to the myth of immaterial innovation.
Ask SkimNews
