Green Sun, blade runner, Brazil, Robocop, Back to the future, The fifth Element… For a long time, cinema has tried to imagine what the future will be like, in polluted and overpopulated megalopolises, where misery, robots or flying cars reign. In 2023, Canal + Docs will broadcast 2080, Our futuresa documentary series of anticipation, produced in Montpellier (Hérault) by Mad Films, specialist in special effects, and Camera Subjective, which will explain to spectators what the future could really be.
This not very pleasant destiny, where we could well eat sushi printed in 3D, did not come only from the imagination of the creators of the program. In an attempt to best stick to what the world will be like in 2080, they interviewed a host of experts. “The idea was not to imagine a fictionalized future, but a possible, even probable future, explains Alexandre Amiel, co-producer of the series with his company Camera Subjective. For this, we interviewed scientists, forecasters, etc. It is truly a journalistic approach. Google bosses, starred chefs, pioneers of artificial intelligence, philosophers or MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) pundits have notably collaborated on the series.
“We absolutely wanted to avoid science fiction”
And if the horizon 2080 was chosen, it is because it is a future close enough for us to be able to predict what will happen to the planet. “Up to 60 years later, it remains credible, notes Jean Mach, co-producer of 2080, Our futures, with Mad Films. Beyond that, it will be pure hypothesis, science fiction. And we absolutely wanted to avoid science fiction. This series, however, does not fall into pessimism. Because each episode, which will focus on a specific theme (transport, health, food, entertainment, etc.), will give the viewer the keys to… save the furniture.
“We will follow, in each episode, a character who will live, in turn, in a desirable future, which would be our future if we make the right decisions today, and a less desirable future, which would be the consequence of our inaction at the present”, explains Olivier Agogué, the program director of the Canal + Docs channel. A way “to tell the citizen ‘It’s up to you to move now!’ “, continues Jean Mach.
A hyperloop station, a prosthetic shop and fresh air dispensers
The series is shot in the disused factory of Schneider Electric, bought by the metropolis, in Fabrègues, near Montpellier. Here, the producers have recreated a futuristic street. In this avenue, they have installed a bicycle vending machine, which will recognize its user in the blink of an eye thanks to connected lenses, a prosthesis store, if you feel like “upgrading” your body, a ‘hyperloop, to cross the megalopolis in the blink of an eye, or fresh air dispensers, in masks.
The series, directed by Pierre Lergenmüller and Sarah Carpentier, should be offered to Canal + subscribers in the fall of 2023. And it looks great. “We were amazed when we saw the trailer! “says Olivier Agogué, who did not hesitate for a second to buy the series. Other broadcasters, in the United States, China or Germany, have already shown great interest. The future looks bright for 2080, Our futures.