Doppelbänger

Available now on DUST.

In a future where your robotic double, known as your Doppelsynth, goes to work in your stead, humans are rapidly approaching obsolescence. George, a struggling writer holding out hopes that the bots won’t take over literature for another decade, is also a very sexually frustrated human being. Luckily there’s an underground industry of Doppels reprogrammed for just the kind of fun he’s looking for. 

But things don’t go as planned when the Doppel in his bed malfunctions. Hiding the illegal lovebot before his own Doppel comes home, George must now make the call of shame to the broken bot’s owner. When she comes to collect her property, the awkward meeting results in improbable but undeniable sparks flying between them.

Starring Gibson Frazier and Annapurna Sriram, this 15 minute short film releasing on the DUST platform, is a standalone piece that also serves as a proof-of-concept for a larger series concept. 

Taking a low budget approach to world-building, writer/director Sofian Khan and his team constructed a single set where most of the film takes place at Vigilant Studios in Flushing, Queens. Here, between these two actors (who each play two roles) we get a glimpse of a future where humans are increasingly isolated and on the verge of obsolescence. 

Yet, in the midst of this increasingly post-human future, the human desire for connection remains strong as ever, even under the strangest of circumstances. 

Doppelbänger made is worldwide premiere at Cinequest and its international premiere at the prestigious Fantasia film festival in Canada, before going live worldwide on the DUST platform on September 8th, 2020. (watch full film here)

Check out the in progress section to learn more about the forthcoming series based in the same world.

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