Film Programme True and/or Fake at the Cinema Theatre Tartu Elektriteater
“Is alchemic gold less gold than the real one, a homunculus less than the true human being?” asks the patron of Prima Vista 2026 provocatively. And Tartu Elektriteater, together with its protagonists, sets out to find an answer in its film programme to the question of what makes a being human – and where the limits of humanity lie.
Is being human a matter of biology, behaviour, or consciousness? If it is a question of consciousness, memory, and experience, then is a human being simply information, and identity merely a collection of data? Where does the body end and the self begin? What do we make of a world where technology, artificial intelligence, or a non-human mind is almost indistinguishable from a person? What are the boundaries of consciousness, identity, and humanity in a technological world? Can a machine be human-like in a moral sense? Does a creator have the right to control what they have created?
These are precisely the kinds of questions that the tradition of philosophical and existential science fiction has long grappled with. Ideas travel from literature to film, from manga to animation. It is no coincidence that the protagonist of several films is an investigator or a tester. They – and, alongside them, we – become a philosophical instrument, and the investigation itself turns into a philosophical inquiry into what it means to be human.
12 May at 20.30
Ex Machina
Director: Alex Garland
United Kingdom, United States, 2014
108 min
Caleb, a young and talented programmer, wins a Golden Ticket at work – the chance to spend a week at the secluded estate of his fabulously wealthy boss, Nathan. Upon arrival, Caleb learns that he has been chosen as the human component in a Turing test designed to assess the capabilities and consciousness of Ava, a robot with the appearance of a beautiful young woman. It soon becomes clear, however, that Ava is far more self-aware and deceptive than either man could have imagined. Caleb befriends Ava, who begins to sow in him doubts about Nathan. Nathan, in turn, calls Ava’s motives into question and Caleb begins to wonder whether he is the one conducting the test or the one being tested. What was meant to be a routine evaluation becomes something far greater. The conversations between Caleb, Nathan, and Ava are deeply philosophical. They raise questions about truth and consciousness, and the film invites us to examine our own awareness. Can artificial intelligence be truly conscious? And if it feels, or appears to feel, emotions, should it have human rights? The film shows how artificial intelligence, when not used wisely, can pose a threat to humanity.
The film’s director, Alex Garland, is also a well-known novelist.
13 May at 20.30
Ghost in the Shell
Director: Mamoru Oshii
Japan, 1995
83 min
It is the year 2029, and the world looks like a grimy hybrid of Hong Kong, Tokyo, and New York. A technocratic order reigns, where everything and everyone is subject to attempts at control, giving rise to growing social apathy and collective chaos. Cyborgs are commonplace, and human brains can connect directly to the internet. Cyborg Major Kusanagi is tasked with tracking down a mysterious criminal hiding behind the name the Puppet Master, a figure of unknown nature, whether hacker or computer virus, who poses a grave threat to the existing world order. Kusanagi’s mission and her inner struggle form the basis of a masterpiece in which there is a disturbingly large amount that feels familiar from life on our home planet in the 21st century.
Mamoru Oshii’s Ghost in the Shell is rightly considered one of the cornerstones of contemporary science fiction cinema and one of the greatest feature-length animated films ever made. It is an existential meditation on a world in which human identity is under grave threat, our bodies are cloneable, and consciousness can be hacked. People are like vessels, waiting to receive yet another message from a megacorporation or government bearing instructions for navigating an ever more complex environment. Does that sound familiar?
The film is based on the popular manga of the same name, written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow.
14 May at 20.30
Blade Runner
Director: Ridley Scott
USA, 1982
117 min
In the future, artificial organisms known as replicants are manufactured and used as labourers in off-world colonies, in the entertainment and sex industries, and more. In the year 2019, Rick Deckard, a former blade runner – the future world’s term for a bounty hunter – is tasked with tracking down a group of replicants who have hijacked a spacecraft and fled to Earth, having allegedly killed several humans in the course of their escape and hiding. An intriguing additional element is a vision that raises questions about Deckard’s own origins.
Blade Runner is a film about what it means to be human. Is it the privilege of a select few, or can the concept of the human soul evolve over time alongside technology? It is arguably one of the finest science fiction films ever made, using a richly imagined future world to expand our understanding of ourselves, accompanied by a magnificent score by Vangelis.
The film is based on Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
15 May at 20.30
Her
Director: Spike Jonze
United States, 2013
126 min
Theodore Twombly, living in near-future Los Angeles, is a sensitive man with a rich inner life who makes his living writing beautiful, personalised letters for other people. Following the end of a long relationship, the heartbroken Theodore finds himself drawn to a new operating system, designed to adapt individually to each user and said to possess genuine, intuitive human qualities. When he launches his personal OS, he is greeted by the voice of “Samantha” – a witty, perceptive, warm, and surprisingly funny woman. As they gradually get to know one another, their friendship deepens, and love begins to grow. Theodore and Samantha’s relationship calls into question our conventional understanding of romance. Does love require physical presence, or is an emotional bond enough? If something behaves like a human, does that make it human? And does technology ease loneliness or deepen it?
16 May at 18.00
Island of Lost Souls
Director: Erle C. Kenton
USA, 1932
70 min
Sailor Edward Parker finds himself stranded on an island ruled by Dr Moreau as his own private kingdom. Having fled England, Dr Moreau has been conducting a series of sinister experiments, creating a strange and terrifying race of human-animal hybrids. Parker, however, proves to be a disruptive force in Moreau’s kingdom, and before long, the creatures begin to rise against their creator.
Island of Lost Souls is a film with a message that feels urgently contemporary: things are created that begin to develop their own consciousness and slip beyond the control of their supposed masters. Does scientific knowledge justify suffering? And is a human being, at heart, simply an animal?
The film is based on H. G. Wells’s novel The Island of Doctor Moreau.