Official Trailer for ‘The Computer Accent’ Doc About the Band YACHT
by Alex Billington
October 5, 2022
Source: YouTube
“What if I give a soul to a computer or a machine. That doesn’t make us weaker, that makes us stronger.” Memory has revealed an official for the music + tech doc called The Computer Accent, featuring the pop music group YACHT. Originally created in 2002 by Jona Bechtolt, they have evolved over the years with different band members. Now, the boundary-pushing band YACHT tackles the greatest challenge of their career: inviting Artificial Intelligence into their creative process. As cutting-edge technology collides with their DIY sensibilities, the band struggles to understand the future of music—and their place within it. The PR description adds: “Lo-fi meets high-tech in this entertaining and thought-provoking journey into the wilderness of art and technology. The band sits back as research scientists whiteboard their way through explanations of neural networks.” This looks like a funky doc that will play perfectly as a double feature with the Meow Wolf film – both about quirky artists trying to innovative in clever, sometimes unsuccessful ways.
First trailer (+ poster) for Riel Roch-Decter & Sebastian Pardo’s doc The Computer Accent on YouTube:
The Computer Accent is a documentary following the boundary-pushing pop group YACHT as they try something terrifying: handing over the reins of their creative process to Artifical Intelligence. Working with technologists and leading AI researchers, YACHT uses cutting-edge data analysis tools, machine learning, neural networks, sci-fi instruments, and generative composition strategies to create a new kind of human-machine album—music, lyrics, artwork, videos, and all. Putting AI to the test in the name of art, YACHT are guides through the brave new world of machine intelligence. Along the way, they’ll question their own roles in a future where software anticipates, generates, and even synthesizes human work. The Computer Accent is directed by the filmmakers Riel Roch-Decter & Sebastian Pardo, both making their feature directorial debut after producing tons of shorts previously. This initially premiered at the CPH:DOX Film Festival earlier this year. Memory will debut The Computer Accent in select US theaters on October 21st, 2022 (NY only) with a release in SF + LA on November 17th later in the fall. Who wants to watch?