Early in my career I worked at NFL Films. That experience, of being able to see the drama on the field while having access to the people and stories unfolding off the field, has always been a fascinating intersection for me. In my recent film, The Great Alone, I was able to explore the epic scale of the Iditarod through the comeback story of a single competitor. In AlphaGo, the competition between man and machine provided a similar backdrop, albeit with far larger consequences.
The complexity of the game of Go, combined with the technical depth of an emerging technology like artificial intelligence seemed like it might create an insurmountable barrier for a film like this. The fact that I was so innocently unaware of Go and AlphaGo actually proved to be beneficial. It allowed me to approach the action and interviews with pure curiosity, the kind that helps make any subject matter emotionally accessible.
Unlike the film’s human characters – who turn their curious quest for knowledge into an epic spectacle with great existential implications, who dare to risk their reputation and pride to contest that curiosity – AI might not yet possess the ability to empathize. But it can teach us profound things about our humanness – the way we play board games, the way we think and feel and grow. It’s a deep, vast premise, but my hope is, by sharing it, we can discover something within ourselves we never saw before.
— Greg Kohs, Director
Kohs is a proud native of the Motor City and graduate of Notre Dame. He honed his aesthetic at NFL Films where he received ten Emmy Awards. Greg’s films include award-winning Song Sung Blue, which the late Roger Ebert hailed as “Superb,” and his most recent award-winning documentary The Great Alone.
Kohs now lives outside of Philadelphia with his wife and three children.
Cindy Lee is a documentary and narrative film editor based in New York City. She was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for the film Una Noche. Her credits also include the Oscar-nominated film, No End in Sight, and Hot Coffee, winner of the Sundance Special Jury Prize and National Society of Film Critics Award. TV credits include the Emmy-winning Showtime series Years of Living Dangerously and the ESPN 30 for 30 episode, Chasing Tyson.
Volker Bertelmann is a German pianist and composer who mainly performs and records under the name Hauschka. He is best known for his compositions in prepared piano. Volker was nominated for an Academy Award for the original score he wrote and performed with Dustin O’Halloran on the film, Lion.
Greg Kohs
Director of Photography
Robert Fernandez
Executive Producer
Dan Levinson
Executive Producer
Gary Krieg
Producer
Josh Rosen
Producer
Kevin Proudfoot
Producer