🎤 A Perilous Contact with Reality vs. AI

Leading filmmakers and producers gathered to debate the fine line between technological progress and the risk of falsifying real events.

The main point of contention was the authenticity of footage and the vulnerability of documentary filmmaking in the face of generative models. Director and president of the “One Sixth” festival, Evgeny Grigoriev, emphasized that the industry will soon confront the challenge of verifying archival materials. At the same time, he noted a local nuance: popular foreign AI models still struggle to grasp Russian reality accurately. Grigoriev urged creators not to shy away from “perilous contact with reality,” predicting that audiences will eventually grow fatigued by AI-generated visuals, making authentic camera work all the more valuable.

Gorky Film Studio producer Ekaterina Stroganova and producer Angelina Ashman agreed that the core asset of documentary filmmaking—human beings and their unique lived experiences—remains out of reach for algorithms. Neural networks can only offer average results during the brainstorming phase and cannot replace a human editor, who acts as a crucial narrative co-author. Furthermore, overusing neural network experimentation inevitably erodes audience trust, where factual accuracy is paramount.

In turn, Dmitry Salov, creative producer at VK Video, suggested viewing algorithms as convenient auxiliary tools, while stressing the urgent need for legislative regulation as technology continues its rapid advance.