With his previous effort nearly five years behind him, news regarding any future Andrew Bujalski projects had been scant to say the least. The indie filmmaker, who’s been given the dubious distinction as being called “the godfather of mumblecore,” is finally back in the limelight with his latest film “Computer Chess.” The crowdsourced fourth feature film from the director recently screened at Sundance where it won the Alfred P. Sloan Prize, and now a teaser trailer has landed and it's a wonderfully weird look at the movie.
Upon viewing the two-minute teaser, it becomes abundantly clear that this will be unlike anything Bujalski has ever done up to this point. Shot in black-and-white video, the 1980s-set “Computer Chess” centers on a bunch of computer programmers who meet for a weekend tournament and the attention to detail is quite impressive. Here’s a full synopsis:
Set over the course of a weekend tournament for chess software programmers thirty-some years ago, COMPUTER CHESS transports viewers to a nostalgic moment when the contest between technology and the human spirit seemed a little more up for grabs. We get to know the eccentric geniuses possessed of the vision to teach a metal box to defeat man, literally, at his own game, laying the groundwork for artificial intelligence as we know it and will come to know it in the future.
No word on when “Computer Chess” will be released, but the film will screen at SXSW next month, and in Berlin next week. In the meantime, be sure to watch the teaser trailer below. [The Film Stage]
