Academy Award-winning director Guillermo del Toro, known for acclaimed films like "Pan’s Labyrinth," "The Shape of Water," and the upcoming "Frankenstein," delivered a stark warning about the threats AI and corporate consolidation pose to creative freedom while accepting the British Film Institute's highest honor, the BFI Fellowship, at a BFI America gala in Hollywood.
"We are on the verge of imagistic illiteracy. We are on the verge of cinematic illiteracy," del Toro stated at the event. He argued that the human relationship with images is not merely a product of technology but an expressive instinct that dates back to ancient cave paintings. Addressing the increasing integration of AI-generated imagery into the creative process, he bluntly called AI "natural stupidity."
"The contract between a human and an image is sacred," he continued. "We are told that an image can be generated artificially. But an image is not there to just be there. It is there to connect us, to make us feel beauty."
Del Toro also spoke of his personal history with the BFI, from writing to the institution from Guadalajara as a teenager to request 16mm prints of classic films, to his recent pledge to donate a third of his personal documents and archives. He said he has entered the "give back" phase of his life and plans to teach a course on early Hitchcock films for the BFI.
"We are not gatekeepers. We are door holders, to let more people in and out of the church that is cinema," del Toro said. "I have been saved by images many, many times in my life."
"Right now, the bus is very close to the cliff, and we all have to lean to the right," del Toro concluded, offering a final warning on the current state of the film industry and implying that the entire community must work together to safeguard cinematic creation and culture.
The gala also served as a fundraiser for BFI America, with proceeds supporting the BFI's annual Film on Film Festival, scheduled to return to London next June.
BFI CEO Ben Roberts noted in an interview that organizing festivals, preserving film prints and historical materials, and promoting film culture are all crucial long-term missions for the BFI. He also expressed hope that this work addresses the real needs of the British film industry.
"Beyond our cultural role as the lead organization for film in the U.K., we work with government and industry on policy and look ahead at what’s coming down the track," Roberts said. "We would say our job is to make sure the conditions are right for filmmaking to succeed."
via： Variety