After being shown a commercial for the AI company GAIA, five self-assured focus group participants are asked to determine who among them is not fully human.
Bringing philosophy into a grounded science fiction world of AI, Focus Group poses different ways of answering the question of what makes us human. However important that question may be, Sydney sees the film more as an exploration of suspicion, mistrust, and identity, as the five participants begin to challenge their perception of each other and of themselves.
Can we even know what makes us human? Will we lose our own ideal version of humanity in the search?
- Year2021
- LanguageEnglish
- CountryUnited States
- DirectorSydney Relihan
- ScreenwriterSydney Relihan
- ProducerSydney Relihan
- FilmmakerSupporting Cast: Taylor Bazos, McKee Bond, Kayla Bouazouni, Luke Morcade, Jack Muench, Shannon O'Shea, Maddison (Seoyeon) Shin, Joelle Ramson; Sound: Shannon O'Shea, Joelle Ramson; Editor: Sydney Relihan; Score: Sydney Relihan; Graphic Design: Crystal Navellier; Special Thanks: Stewart Thorndike, Randy Hendrickson, Cornell Department of Performing & Media Arts, Mackenzie Relihan
- CastCynthia X. Mahoney, Andrew V. Lorenzen, Michael McCarthy, Alice Navadeh, Grayson Rosenberg, Kayla Bouazouni
After being shown a commercial for the AI company GAIA, five self-assured focus group participants are asked to determine who among them is not fully human.
Bringing philosophy into a grounded science fiction world of AI, Focus Group poses different ways of answering the question of what makes us human. However important that question may be, Sydney sees the film more as an exploration of suspicion, mistrust, and identity, as the five participants begin to challenge their perception of each other and of themselves.
Can we even know what makes us human? Will we lose our own ideal version of humanity in the search?
- Year2021
- LanguageEnglish
- CountryUnited States
- DirectorSydney Relihan
- ScreenwriterSydney Relihan
- ProducerSydney Relihan
- FilmmakerSupporting Cast: Taylor Bazos, McKee Bond, Kayla Bouazouni, Luke Morcade, Jack Muench, Shannon O'Shea, Maddison (Seoyeon) Shin, Joelle Ramson; Sound: Shannon O'Shea, Joelle Ramson; Editor: Sydney Relihan; Score: Sydney Relihan; Graphic Design: Crystal Navellier; Special Thanks: Stewart Thorndike, Randy Hendrickson, Cornell Department of Performing & Media Arts, Mackenzie Relihan
- CastCynthia X. Mahoney, Andrew V. Lorenzen, Michael McCarthy, Alice Navadeh, Grayson Rosenberg, Kayla Bouazouni