THE ARTIFICIAL HUMORS is a film about humor, anthropology and artificial intelligence. It focuses on how humor is central to human relationships across, used as a form of social control, and one of the most complex forms of communication. The film was shot in Mato Grosso (Canarana and the Yawalapiti and Kamayura villages inside the Xingu Indigenous Park) and São Paulo. Blending a certain Hollywood aesthetic with documentary approaches, the film tells the story of an indigenous girl who falls in love with a robot that is a rising stand up comedian in Brazil. Gabriel Abrantes' films address historical, political and social matters while discussing post-colonial, gender and identity issues. His works create layers of unlikely readings, altering traditional narratives and touch upon the absurd, folklore, humor and politics.

Gabriel Abrantes (b. 1984, USA) is an artist and filmmaker. His work has been shown in exhibitions at the MIT List Center for the Visual Arts, the Palais de Tokyo, the Centre Pompidou, the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Centre d’Art Contemporain, Geneva and Museu Serralves. His films have screened in competition at festivals such as La Biennale di Venezia, the Berlinale, Locarno International Film Festival, and IndieLisboa. He was been awarded prizes at the Berlinale, Locarno International Film Festival, among others.

Filmography:

2017 THE ARTIFICIAL HUMORS, short
2016 THE HUNCHBACK (co-directed with Ben Rivers), short
2016 A BRIEF HISTORY OF PRINCESS X, short
2015 FREUD UND FRIENDS, short
2013 TAPROBANA, short
2013 ENNUI ENNUI, short
2012 ὌΡΝΙΘΕΣ (ORNITHES - BIRDS), short
2011 PALÁCIOS DE PENA co-directed with Daniel Schmidt), short
2011 FRATELLI, short
2011 BABY BACK COSTA RICA, short
2011 LIBERDADE, short
2010 A HISTORY OF MUTUAL RESPECT (co-directed with Daniel Schmidt), short
2009 TOO MANY DADDIES, MOMMIES AND BABIES, short
2008 VISIONARY IRAQ (co-directed with Benjamin Crotty), short
2008 ARABIC HARE, short
2008 GUGG ‘N’ TATE, short
2008 OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT, short
2006 OLYMPIA I & II, short
2006 DEAR GOD PLEASE SAVE ME, short
2006 ANARCHIST KING, short
2006 THE RAZOR THIN DEFINITION OF PUNK, short