SXSW 2020 - We Are As Gods
SXSWJason Sussberg and David Alvarado’s documentary We Are As Gods is an impressive and varied biography of writer and controversial environmentalist Stewart Brand, which catches up with Brand in 2020, who at the grand old age of 81 finds himself living in a world of great technical possibility.
The film follows Brand’s most recent work in the world of bio-engineering, as he experiments with some of the planet’s top scientists on an experiment to bring extinct species back to life – primarily the Woolly Mammoth. Brand’s goal with this — through various reasons that the film goes into detail about — is to conserve the planet for a long time after he’s gone. His plight is immediately interesting, sympathetic and surprisingly logical, and it helps that Brand is a charismatic, charming and kindly lead subject. However, the film is enjoyably objective for the most part and does ensure to point out that Brand’s ideologies have always been controversial in the environmental world.
The exploration of one man’s plight to save the world opens up a world of ethics and questions on Could VS Should, and collects various opinions from experts in the field via talking heads, TED Talk footage and more. On this hand alone, the documentary is interesting to watch, and to learn a lot of new things from. But despite the important of the de-extinction and Science based topics discussed, We Are As Gods is first and foremost a character biography on Stewart Brand. The film’s structure jumps across timelines and narratives and succeeds as a film in that this approach excellently balances the mix of genres at play. The film juxtaposes footage of Brand now with archival footage of his past and peppered in between these are talking heads from people throughout Brand’s life, as well quirky animations and vignettes. It’s this kinetic, varied editing style that helps the film succeed as much as it does, Sussberg and Alvarado give the audience all the right information to keep them engaged.
All in all, the humble genius of Stewart Brand himself is why the film works as well as it does, with help from a dedicated understanding of film language and the various formats of presenting information in a documentary by Sussberg and Alvarado. The documentary opens with a montage of people speaking on the inspiration that Brand has given them, but that isn’t to say he’s unequivocally the film’s hero. The film is quick to juxtapose his praise with multiple people calling Brand out on his theories and ideas, and it takes this chance to really interestingly explore the idea of the human race’s relationship with technology, and whether or not it is a help or a hindrance for the survival of the natural world. We Are As Gods succeeds then for being as eccentric as its main subject, and by constantly offering different styles and formats to offer information. It’s energy and eclectic opinions on the world is what really helps set it aside from the more mundane and by-the-numbers documentaries out there, and this can only be attributed to Stewart Brand himself.