Image: Denise Jans / Unsplash
Some time ago, I worked in digital marketing and went to many pitches. One of my slides explained how companies today compete with Netflix, PlayStation, Influencers, friends, and direct competitors on their communication channels.
Attention was the currency then, and it is even more so now.
The same thing is now happening with AI-assisted cinema.
Movies and TV shows are coming out fast, and it is impossible to go through them all to find which are worth your time. And to make a decision: will you invest in Paradise on Disney+, Marshals on Paramount+, or an AI streaming show? Attention is the gold of the digital world, and that’s why writers like Taylor Sheridan are paid + one billion dollars to create 20 shows in 5 years. Yes, I am watching Marshals (and Paradise).
But I’m also watching a bunch of AI-assisted movies. I am looking for ones that are strong in their story, that fit perfectly in the context of the time we live in, or are intimate and deeply personal, therapeutic for both authors and audiences. Yes, curating is subjective. That was confirmed to me at a panel I attended in Toronto with programmers from TIFF, Hot Docs, imagineNATIVE, and FOFS a few days ago. All of them have different personal manifestos when choosing.
I am sure algorithms will push some AI movies your way, but I also believe that curators who share your taste will help you find the best ones to watch. They will distinguish A Complete Unknown from The Room and give you the answer to what is actually worth watching, as well as what is interesting from a cinema perspective. The other important part of curating is to create meaning. I am currently watching many movies for the Cinema Shift Festival, especially those that feel relevant to today. My interest does not lie in tools but in narrative intention and authorship. I am carefully seeking out emerging voices, identifying themes, and trying to see how movies work together.
And while curating is subjective, there are some things that do connect us all, as I read in Peter Bosma’s Curating for Cinemas, Festivals, Archives. The most important ones for me were that curators shape culture and memory, answering the question of which films get remembered, and that curating is about creating experiences that start conversations. And of course, the most important one we share - love for the cinema.