The futuristic courtroom drama, Time Sentence was screened at the Karachi Press Club. A large number of attendees were present at the event. The film takes up the subject of the growing trend of artificial intelligence in a unique way. The film deals with the concepts of technology, law, justice, science fiction and human emotions.
The short film Time Sentence, set in the distant future, is a science fiction courtroom drama, where an artificial intelligence-driven judge, Frank Scaler is hearing the case of an accused, who is a time traveler, where Dayajeet Singh, state prosecutor tells him that this court gives verdict on the very first hearing. John Arch, the defense counsel reveals that machines have overtaken power of human judgement in legal arena long ago.
The former Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, an outspoken human rights activist, Retired Justice Wajihauddin Ahmed appreciated the innovatively creative effort of the film team. He said, “This film will leave a deep impact on the minds of audiences at the national and international level. It’s a tragic story.” Noted intellectual and political analyst, Saeed Khawar addressed the audience, “There are serious hidden messages in the film. Such bold story-telling is missing these days”. The film’s director, Khalid Hasan Khan, said, “Technology is an extension of human habits.”
The director elaborated, “the film explores the premise, how technology brings its own implicit laws and society fails to catch up with its evolutionary development. The story of this film, was very well-written by the famous poet Zulfiqar Adil, covering aspects of law, justice, human aspirations and unbridled usage of artificial intelligence by the human society; its probable implications for humanity that are being caused by the excessive indulgence in AI.”
The cast of the film includes Shamim Shirazi, Dara Shikoh Hashmi, Syed Muaz Shah, Rafat Jabeen, Talal Farhat and Mohammad Ali. Imran Sheikh and Syed Ovais Ali are the executive producers of this short film. The filmmaker of Time Sentence, Khalid Hasan Khan, is a Hollywood graduate who has won twenty-four awards from the international film festivals circuit, for his fiction and non-fiction projects.
The office bearers of the Karachi Press Club presented Sindhi ajraks to the chief guests.