Climate Control
Experimental
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Independent, Short Films, 14-May-2026
A filmmaker making a documentary about fossil fuel extraction is consistently subverted by an AI agent that wants to tell a generic love story. Sarah Lasley directs “Climate Control,” an absurd comedy realizing the futile feeling of trying to call attention to a crisis. We’re dropped into a diorama of a German village called Lützerath. Info cards and a piano composition fade in. We learn the village was demolished by an energy company in 2013. In the middle of an interview with an expert, the camera suddenly leaps off the tripod, manipulated by an internal AI system motivated to make a film of its own. A wintery wonderland and computer-generated characters begin to spawn. A title card reading “A Brewing Romance” shines across the screen. Over the course of the film, the AI agent and filmmaker, supported by her crew, fight for creative control. While the limits of its power and how it functions remain somewhat ambiguous, the agent’s ridiculous thinking and voice feel familiar, working to comedic effect. -JM. Director: Sarah Lasley. Producers: Nicola Waugh, Andres Barajas. Camera: Hannah Huber, Tava Lawrence, Ari Boljonis. Sound Design/Re-Recording Mixer: James Russell. Production Sound: Branden Brown. Music: Christian Ruggiero, Yannis Panos. Graphics: James Barry.
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