EXCLUSIVE: “AI is something that’s coming whether we like it or not,” indie filmmaker Michel Franco told Deadline at the Sarajevo Film Festival. “There’s no point in being scared of it or having a phobia – it’s better to come to terms with it.”
The Mexican writer-director-producer, whose films have been regular fixtures on the international festival circuit since his debut feature After Lucia won Un Certain Regard in Cannes in 2012, admits that while he hasn’t used AI – “not even ChatGPT” – it’s not something he’s opposed to exploring in the future.
“If I could grow back the hair of an actor on certain scenes that were shot after a haircut and it would look perfect and wouldn’t cost anything, would I do it? Yes,” he said. “Would I avoid an ADR session with an actor if it could be done by AI and no one would be able to tell the difference? Yes, probably because then I would have more time to write the next movie and spend less, boring long hours doing the technical stuff. So, in that way, I would definitely welcome it.”
Franco, who is not on social media of any kind, admitted that use of AI in the film space is not without its question marks. “There are two ways to look at it. There’s the practical question, which is using it as a tool. Whatever makes things easier or cheaper or more feasible, then I would welcome it, and I would be silly not to use it.”
He continued: “But there’s the bigger conversation about the future and how threatening it is and how it might take jobs away and I don’t know what to think with that. I’d like to believe that human talent will never be replaced but it’s tricky. You listen to music made by AI and it’s hard to tell what’s real – even professional musicians don’t know which one is real. So, there’s a big conversation – there’s a lot to figure out.”
Franco is in Sarajevo this week to present his most recent film Dreams, which stars frequent collaborator Jessica Chastain. He’s also the recipient of an Honorary Heart of Sarajevo Award.
When pressed about a new documentary he’s working on, some of which he filmed in Poland earlier this year, the Memory and Chronic helmer admitted that it was too early to talk about as he is still figuring out what kind of film he is making.
“It’s hard to talk about because I don’t know what it is exactly, it’s even tricky to say it’s set in Poland because I don’t know if I’m going to keep shooting elsewhere,” he said. “I’ve never done a documentary before and I’m learning the hard way on how tough it is to get something interesting. It’s the opposite of fiction because I control everything or I decide what I don’t want to control and so on. Documentaries are a completely different language so I’m just challenging myself at the moment.”
Franco did reveal that the documentary “has to do, to some extent, with the Second World War and the concentration and extermination camps.”
“It was inspired by fascism. I’ve been having conversations about fascism with Tim Roth since we met in 2012 and we’ve been saying we should make a film about it,” he said. “Then I made New Order, which is pretty much about that. So, it’s my fear. I’m way more afraid of fascism than AI because it is something we can fight and control.”
The post Michel Franco Says He’s “More Worried About Fascism Than AI”; Teases New Documentary In The Works – Sarajevo appeared first on Deadline.
