SYNOPSIS
An artificial intelligence drone caring for the growth of sugarcane, its duty is to eliminate all accidental factors and nurture plant growth, even though humans have long been extinct. The encounter with an ant suddenly reminds the drone of its first patrol, in an era after the collapse of collectivism in the 20th century, a sugar mill destroyed by globalized precise predictive behaviour.
REVIEW
In a post-human world, AI-powered drones navigate the remnants of civilization. One such drone, nostalgic for humanity's heyday, patrols an abandoned sugar factory. Director Cao Shu, renowned for his experimental animations and media art exploring the unconscious and mythological, seamlessly blends live-action photography with game engine rendering to chronicle the drone's journey through sky, earth, and subterranean realms. This science fiction narrative follows a drone tasked with maintaining sugarcane fields. Operating with algorithmic precision, the drone's every movement is a calculated dance of efficiency. Collaborating with ant colonies, it eliminates all threats to plant growth, crafting a world where only purpose and its algorithmic pursuit persist. Yet, in this meticulously ordered universe, a profound question emerges: for whom does this world exist? This poignant fable serves as a critical meditation on the illusion of technology's omnipotence—its perceived ability to collect, control, and reduce all possibilities to mere data.
DIRECTOR'S NOTE
Phantom Sugar revolves around Guangdong Shunde Sugar Factory, using live photography combined with game engine rendering for moving image writing. After experiencing the glory of the new Chinese industry, this old sugar factory with a Czech industrial assembly line has become a ruin in today¡¯s globalized high-frequency trading.