Tull Stories is thrilled to announce the release of Cyborg: A Documentary, coming to UK Cinemas on 20th September.
Artist Neil Harbisson wants to convince the world that technological enhancement of our senses is a force for good. Born only being able to see in black and white, Neil yearned from a young age to experience how others feel the expressive power of colour. When he was 21 he had an ‘eyeborg’ antenna, that translates colour waves into sound frequencies, permanently implanted in his skull. With childhood friend, choreographer and cyborg collaborator, Moon Ribas, Neil established the Cyborg Foundation and the Transpecies Society. These aim to promote the creation of new technological senses, give a voice to non-human identities, and defend the freedom of self-design.
In Cyborg: A Documentary, Neil and Moon confront their detractors head-on, communicating their controversial ideas about the technological future of humankind. The number of humans becoming ‘cyborgs’ is growing year on year and our species is on the verge of being able to design and re-design itself at will. As Neil says “This is happening!” But is the world ready to listen?
Speaking about the movie, Director Carey Born shares, “I became interested in making a film about Neil because his dual persona, as cyborg and artist, could provide the perfect lens through which to examine the rising urgency in understanding the tensions between technology and humanity. Though widely known as the first ‘cyborg’, Neil’s story is ironically about things that are fundamentally most human – the pursuit of experience, the persistence of curiosity, creative expression, and the power of imagination.
There is drama in his story too. On his journey to becoming technologically enhanced, Neil has faced considerable physical and psychological pain, and as his fame grows and he continues to assume a leadership role in the cyborg community, it increasingly places him in the crosshairs of critics and, most dangerously, religious zealots. His is also the story of human evolution – a topic rife with conflict.
Cyborg: A Documentary will be in UK Cinemas from 20th September
Images provided courtesy of Strike Media Ltd
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