General Magic

Look at Life: Figure It Out

January 1963 •English

The story of computers: from electronic tape and punched cards, to austere-looking robots.

Cyborgs: Human Machines

May 2017 •English

Over the past few years, technology has improved our lives in so many ways. Now, some people, called trans-humanists, are taking the next logical step - they are fusing their bodies with digital implants to increase their abilities and expand their senses - they are becoming, in effect, real life cyborgs. How is life going to change for us all if some people have supernatural powers?

An Eye on You: Citizens Under Surveillance

Invalid date •English

Do any areas of our lives escape surveillance any more? Citizens of the 21st Century are the focus of prying eyes, whether they agree to it or not.

Shenzhen: The Silicon Valley of Hardware

July 2016 •English

We examine the unique manufacturing ecosystem that has emerged, gaining access to the world’s leading hardware-prototyping culture whilst challenging misconceptions from the west. The film looks at how the evolution of “Shanzhai” – or copycat manufacturing – has transformed traditional models of business, distribution and innovation, and asks what the rest of the world can learn from this so-called “Silicon Valley of hardware".

Machine of Human Dreams

June 2016 •English

A.I. guru Ben Goertzel grew up in a hippie community in Oregon during the Vietnam War. Inspired by science fiction, he imagined a perfect rational world that would transcend 1970s’ America. Ben has dedicated his life to developing OpenCog, a software that models the human mind. If Ben’s design works, OpenCog will become a human-like general intelligence. But for OpenCog to work, it needs a body.

Silicon Valley Goes to Space

November 2013 •English

Discover how the big, bold ideas of Silicon Valley are helping launch a new era of private space exploration in this half-hour KQED Science documentary. From space tourism to mining the moon to companies ferrying NASA astronauts into space, a new wave of commercialization is shaking up the $300-billion global space industry. Meet a new generation of entrepreneurs, sprung from the high-tech culture of Silicon Valley, who are venturing into the new "wild west" of space exploration in search of their space gold. But are there new risks when space is no longer the exclusive domain of big governments?

DCC.....There Is Still Music Left To Write

June 2019 •English

A documentary about the past, present and potential future of the Digital Compact Cassette. Very few people know the true story about, the Digital Compact Cassette or DCC. Was DCC's audio compression the grandfather of all compressed audio formats today? Why did it have such a short life? Why didn't it become popular in more countries? The early termination of the format in 1996, leading to the rejuvenation in 2014 by Techmoan and later the DCCmuseum in countries that rejected the format before. Nearly 2 years of research allowed us to finally get the truth about DCC on camera, presenting DCC enthusiasts the past, present, and potential future of the format we love. This documentary is about the format, the creators, the decision makers, the musicians, the collectors, the geeks, and the audiophiles behind DCC.

1999 A.D.

January 1967 •English

A whimsical yet serious-minded look into the future sponsored by the appliance and radio manufacturer Philco-Ford. In the "1999 House of Tomorrow", each family member's activities are enabled by a central computer and revolve around products remarkably similar to those made by the sponsor. Power comes from a self-contained fuel cell which supports environmental controls, an automatic cooking system, and a computer-assisted "education room".

Glitch: The Rise & Fall of HQ Trivia

March 2023 •English

This timely documentary chronicles the tech-fueled rise and Fyre-style fall of HQ Trivia, the revolutionary "game show on your phone" app that went viral, swept the nation, then crashed and burned. The global live-play game sensation drew millions of daily users to its frenetically fun trivia challenges and cash prizes, attracting celebrity fans including Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Neil Patrick Harris, Jimmy Kimmel, and Kelly Clarkson. But its success was undone by corporate clashes, cast changes, and a tragic death. Told through the eyes of former host Scott Rogowsky and other first-person players from inside and outside the company, the film documents the real-life comedy and tragedy that unfolded in front of and behind the cameras.

Koyaanisqatsi

April 1983 •English

Takes us to locations all around the US and shows us the heavy toll that modern technology is having on humans and the earth. The visual tone poem contains neither dialogue nor a vocalized narration: its tone is set by the juxtaposition of images and the exceptional music by Philip Glass.

Softwaring Hard

October 2014 •English

A documentary about the world of software and the software makers. How do people from outside the industry see it and what do people from inside the industry think about regular computer users?

California Typewriter

August 2017 •English

A story about people whose lives are connected by typewriters. A meditation on creativity and technology featuring Tom Hanks, John Mayer, Sam Shepard, David McCullough and others.

For You

May 2023 •English

Flowers, Animals, Grass, Sky, Loved ones, Like, Follow, Comment. View the forgotten and ruined memories that have been tainted by earworms, bad comedy and the far-right pipeline. Gaze upon the endless landscape, or gaze upon the endless thirst traps.

Autonomy

March 2019 •English

A cinematic exploration of the world of automated vehicles — from their technical history to the personal narratives of those affected by them to the many unanswered questions about how this technology will affect modern society. This documentary features interviews with industry pioneers and scenes with cutting-edge “AVs” in action around the world.

Human Nature

March 2019 •English

The biggest tech revolution of the 21st century isn’t digital, it’s biological. A breakthrough called CRISPR gives us unprecedented control over the basic building blocks of life. It opens the door to curing disease, reshaping the biosphere, and designing our own children. This documentary is a provocative exploration of CRISPR’s far-reaching implications, through the eyes of the scientists who discovered it, the families it’s affecting, and the genetic engineers who are testing its limits.

TGV Paris-Bordeaux, la ligne de tous les records

November 2021 •French

Land of White Alice

January 1960 •English

Film sponsored by Western Electric (AT&T's equipment manufacturing division), the builder of the United States Air Force's White Alice Communications System in Alaska. Introduces the people and geography of the new state as well as the Western Electric radio-relay system, which links far-flung military sites, alert stations, and missile-warning facilities. Ralph Caplan praised the film's "intrinsically dramatic and highly photogenic" portrayal of communications equipment.

Generation Startup

September 2016 •English

Generation Startup takes us to the front lines of entrepreneurship in America, capturing the struggles and triumphs of six recent college graduates who put everything on the line to build startups in Detroit. Shot over 17 months, it's an honest, in-the-trenches look at what it takes to launch a startup. Directed by Academy Award winner Cynthia Wade and award-winning filmmaker Cheryl Miller Houser, the film celebrates risk-taking, urban revitalization, and diversity while delivering a vital call-to-action-with entrepreneurship at a record low, the country's economic future is at stake.

Before Macintosh: The Apple Lisa

January 2024 •English

Explores the history, technology, people, stories and industry influence of this lesser-known personal computer. The film profiles important individuals involved in the creation of the computer, plus its life after cancellation, both as an entry-level Macintosh compatible and as a collectible. The work of Douglas Engelbart and his team, plus advances from the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) with their Alto and Star workstations were the initial innovators of the Graphical User Interface (GUI), but the Apple Lisa stands as the clear foundation for what we all use today -- Macintosh -- Windows -- iOS -- Android.

The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley

January 2019 •English

With a magical new invention that promised to revolutionize blood testing, Elizabeth Holmes became the world’s youngest self-made billionaire, heralded as the next Steve Jobs. Then, overnight, her 10-billion-dollar company dissolved. The rise and fall of Theranos is a window into the psychology of fraud.