At the end of October, principal photography began in Galicia for Justicia artificial, the working title of the film being helmed by Simón Casal. The story of this political thriller set in the near future, which addresses the moral dilemma of the human mind versus artificial intelligence, kicks off with a constitutional referendum that proposes introducing an artificial intelligence system into society – specifically, one that would replace judges in court cases.

Verónica Echegui (who has just appeared in Stories Not to Be Told [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Cesc Gay
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intervista: Ángeles Huerta
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intervista: Alberto Rodríguez
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The storyline tells of how the Spanish government announces a referendum to approve the use of an artificial intelligence system in the justice system, which promises to automate and depoliticise it by replacing judges in the entirety of the country’s courtrooms. This triggers a fierce electoral campaign which pits the government, in conjunction with the tech company that created the system, against the entire legal profession, which stands up for the human aspect of justice. A well-known judge (played by Echegui) is invited to work on the development of the project, but when the creator of the system (Galocha) suddenly disappears, she starts to suspect something, and then discovers that it’s just the tip of the iceberg involving a conspiracy with designs on controlling the whole country.

“What’s at stake in this story is judicial independence: the danger of losing democratic control over an institution that is essential in our societies today. But on the formal level, the aim of the film is to show contrasting views: that of the human as against that of artificial intelligence,” states the director. “The challenge here is to show the importance of the human condition and of emotions when it comes to serving justice. And to compare and contrast this way of serving justice with the scientific and probabilistic method. I don’t have any answers to this dilemma; I don’t know the response. What I am trying to do with this movie is to portray that clash, in the hope that something beautiful and valuable will come out of it,” he sums up.

Simón Casal, who wrote the screenplay for this movie together with Víctor Sierra, has already tackled this same conflict in the medium-length documentary Artificial Justice, which he co-wrote with philosopher Miguel Penas. Before that, he directed Eduardo Barreiros, el Henry Ford español (2011), for which he scooped the Mestre Mateo Award for Best TV Movie; the feature Dirty Wolves [+leggi anche:
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Justicia artificial is being staged by Justicia Artificial AIE, Tornasol Media and Abano Producións, in co-production with Ukbar Filmes (Portugal). It boasts the involvement of RTVE and Prime Video, and is being supported by the ICAA and AGADIC. A Contracorriente Films will release the film in Spain.