AI Film Exposes a Haunting Climate Future
▼ Summary
– AiCandy created a 90-second AI film set to “Mad World” showing flooded global landmarks to highlight consequences of missing UN 2030 climate goals.
– The film depicts accurate 2100 sea-level projections, including submerged cities like New York, Venice, and Tokyo based on current climate trajectory research.
– Co-founder Kent Boswell secured donated permission from Gary Jules and record labels to use the song, emphasizing shared responsibility for climate action.
– AiCandy donated the film for International Day of Climate Action to demonstrate AI video’s potential for simulating impactful future scenarios.
– The company aims to inspire climate action and support UN Sustainable Development Goals, rejecting deepfake culture in favor of constructive AI filmmaking.
A powerful new AI-generated film presents a sobering vision of our planet’s future, aiming to galvanize global climate action by visualizing the stark consequences of inaction. Set to the haunting melody of Gary Jules and Michael Andrews’ “Mad World,” the short film from Australian AI production studio AiCandy depicts a world failing to achieve the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals for climate. The 90-second piece was created and donated by the company to mark the International Day of Climate Action on October 24.
AiCandy co-founder Kent Boswell explained that the team carried out thorough research to guarantee the accuracy of the projected sea levels shown for the year 2100, based on current climate trends. This aligns with a recent World Climate Research Programme statement projecting a high-end global mean sea-level rise of 1.3 to 1.6 meters by 2100 due to intense warming. The film opens with the sound of ice cracking in 2030, then transitions to renderings of iconic global locations submerged by rising waters. Viewers are shown flooded scenes of New York’s Central Park and Times Square, alongside Venice, Amsterdam, Tokyo, Shanghai, Mumbai, and the Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu completely underwater.
Boswell shared that he personally reached out to musician Gary Jules for permission to use “Mad World.” Both Jules and the record labels Terrorbird and BMG generously donated the track to support the project. “Their support underscores the global importance of the message and the shared responsibility to act,” Boswell noted. He described the film as an idea he had harbored for years, one that only became possible to realize through modern AI filmmaking techniques. He expressed profound gratitude to Gary Jules for believing in the project and contributing his timeless song, which he said gave the film its essential soul.
AiCandy has donated the film to bolster the UN’s climate action goals, timing its release for the International Day of Climate Action to maximize its impact. The company views the project as a demonstration of how AI Video can be harnessed for meaningful purposes, simulating current and future world events that are otherwise impossible to depict. While public concern often focuses on deepfakes and platforms like OpenAI’s Sora, Boswell emphasized that AiCandy is not involved in deepfake culture. The studio, launched earlier this year by Boswell and co-founder Marcus Tesoriero, is dedicated to pioneering next-generation AI filmmaking.
Tesoriero called climate change the defining issue of this generation, stating, “If our film inspires even a small step toward meeting the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, it will have achieved its purpose.” AiCandy encourages everyone to share the film widely to help amplify the urgent call for global climate action. The clip was first unveiled at SXSW 2025 in Sydney.
(Source: ITWire Australia)
