Project Detail

Google and the World Brain

Synopsis

This is the story of the most ambitious project ever conceived on the Internet. In 2002 Google began to scan millions of books in an effort to create a giant global library, containing every book in existence. They had an even greater purpose – to create a higher form of intelligence, (similar to what HG Wells had predicted in his essay "World Brain" as early as in 1937). But over half the books Google scanned were in copyright, and authors across the world launched a campaign to stop Google, which climaxed in a New York courtroom in 2011. A film about the dreams, dilemmas and dangers of the Internet.

Details

Year
2013
Type of project
Features
Running time
89 mins
Director
Ben Lewis
Producer
Viva Van Loock, Bettina Walter
Executive Producer
Carles Brugueras, Madeleine Sheahan
Editor
Simon Barker
Sound
Carlos Jiménez
Composer
Lucas Ariel Vallejos

Categories

Production Status

Production Company

Polar Star Films

Rosselló 320 Local 1
Barcelona
Spain
Tel: +34 932 00 47 77
Fax: +34 932 00 47 87

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

Cliff edge shrouded in fog, with the outline of a small building. Restless Sea

Director: Alex Nevill

Year:

Temperatures rise, oceans acidify, storms roll in, coast lines shimmer and degrade. Stories bubble up, mythology, folklore, tales of a perilous sea, communal rituals for protection and harmony with nature. RESTLESS SEA is an immersive installation exploring climate resilience in coastal Hebridean communities, a chain of islands west of Scotland.

Oliver Cromwell death mask:  The death mask of Oliver Cromwell, from the British Museum collection, displayed in a rectangular wooden case. Landscapes of Shame

Director: Patrick Hough

Year: 2026

Filmmaker Patrick Hough journeys through the haunted landscapes of Ireland, where colonial violence, ecological loss and queer desire remain inscribed in the land. Moving between forests, mountains, archives and cruising grounds, the film traces the extinction of the Irish grey wolf alongside the cultural suppression that followed Cromwellian conquest of Ireland. Fragments of history surface through objects and places: a death mask of Oliver Cromwell, medieval myths of werewolves, maps drawn to measure and divide conquered territory, and landscapes where wolves were once hunted to disappearance. These materials are interwoven with contemporary nocturnal scenes of queer gathering and protest, where shame gives way to transformation, pleasure and resistance. Blending essay film, documentary and poetic fiction, LANDSCAPES OF SHAME asks how violence survives in landscapes, language and bodies - and what forms of wildness still remain. Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2026

George Xiaoyuan Fu is lost in the moment as records an album of Schubert's late music Solitude with Schubert

Director: Matilda Hay

Year: 2025

At a time when many people struggle to talk openly about grief, SOLITUDE WITH SCHUBERT asks what role music can play in helping us live alongside loss. The film follows concert pianist George Xiaoyuan Fu as he navigates the death of his father through Franz Schubert's late works. Extending this exploration beyond himself, Fu connects with a hospice bereavement group and performs a recital for them – sharing how music can offer connection, catharsis and solace when words fall short. He then records an album with mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean, reflecting on how the echoes of those we’ve loved and lost stay with us. It’s an intimate portrait of how art can offer solace and meaning, creating a space for grief to be safely felt, shared and transformed.