Directed by Kenya-Jade Pinto, The Sandbox explores mass migration during the era of artificial intelligence. Travelling the globe, the film takes us onto the frontlines where new border technologies have transformed the way that people’s movements are monitored and, ultimately, lives threatened.
In The Sandbox, Pinto highlights the ways that two seemingly distinct global challenges can intersect to create something even more destructive. On the one hand, Pinto reveals the difficulties faced by refugees at a time when world powers work towards controlling their freedom. On the other, she highlights the technology industry as it is increasingly used to monitor people through the use of surveillance technology.
Woven together, these two issues highlight our culture’s willingness to hand over the keys of our own humanity to the digital machine. From Arizona to Greece to East Africa, Pinto interviews what feels like countless individuals who justify their use of surveillance technology as a form of protection. (“We’re trying to prevent bad things from happenings. It’s not a prison,” we’re told.) Yet, in every example, we bear witness to the ways that lines are crossed and human rights are violated.
In doing so, the film reminds us of the ways that our world’s interconnectedness creates new opportunities for systemic control. Pulling back the curtain on the misuse (and abuse) of power, The Sandbox serves as a sobering reminder of the responsibility that comes with technological advances and how easily good intentions can be corrupted.
The Sandbox is playing at Hot Docs ’26. For more information, click here.
