2021
Users
CO-PRODUCTION
Director, producer and writer
Natalia Almada
Productor
Josh Penn
Elizabeth Lodge Stepp
Producer
Daniela Alatorre
Elivia Shaw
Coproducer
Charlotte Uzu, Les Films
Associate Producer
Laurence Ansquer, Tita Productions
Director of Photography
Bennett Cerf
Editor
Natalia Almada
Music and Sound
Dave Cerf
Sound Mixer
Alejandro de Icaza
Festivals
Sundance Film Festival 2021 /
La Roche Sur Yon 2021 /
Bergen International Film festival 2021 /
BFI London Film Festival 2021 /
Jerusalem International Film Festival 2021 /
SANFIC 2021 /
Sundance Asia in Jakarta 2021 /
Morelia International Film Festival 2021 /
Sitges Film Festival 2021 /
Thessoloniki Documentary Film Festival 2021 /
Visions du Reel 2021 /
HotDocs 2021 /
CPH-DOCS 2021 /
True/False 2021 /
IDFA 2021 /
Ambulante 2021 /
Los Cabos International Film Festival 2021 /
Synopsis

Users begins with a mother’s question–will my children love the perfect machines more than they love me, their imperfect mother? She pushes the button and a smart crib lulls her crying baby to sleep, flawlessly every time. This question guides her inquiry into the intimate relationship we have with technology that is increasingly driving all aspects of our society. We explore the unintended and often dehumanizing consequences of our society's embedded belief that technological progress will lead to the betterment of humanity. Is technological progress inevitable? Are we all increasingly isolated? Do we really have agency to direct its course? Is technology an expression of our humanity or is technology destroying our humanity? The film will be a critical and intimate meditation on these questions.

Users traverses places ranging from the largest indoor vertical farm in the world to the perfect artificial wave, from an IVF embryo lab to a fiber optic cable landing. Invisible infrastructure that we all rely on is made visible. Our reliance on machines and our alienation from each other is palatable. Urgent global issues like climate change and privacy are explored from the intimate perspective of a mother thinking, worrying and loving her children.