DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

With ‘Rodent’, I wanted to find an original and entertaining way to approach existential threats to humanity, namely climate change and AI.

Often documentaries about this are set in the now but what about seeing how the future might look like in a worst case scenario for humans? At its heart, the film is a cautionary tale. I wanted to hold a mirror up to see how exploring this world may make us question if this is something we really want.

It’s told with the sensibilities of a twisted natural history sequence that plays out in the drama of a dystopian future. The project posed an opportunity to try something different outside of conventional wildlife films, take risks and see where else we can go telling new stories about the natural world. With the ultimate aim to engage and excite a more varied audience.

We already know the answers to solve many of the issues we face today, yet we are in an ever narrowing margin to take action. The good news is it’s still possible, so it’s important to find new creative ways to keep this conversation at the forefront and not get fatigued by the momentous task at hand.

‘Rodent’ hopes to show what could usurp us in an alternate future if we keep making bad decisions for ourselves and for the planet. Discovering what a future might be like through the eyes of the rats that inherit the earth from us may help, in some small way, towards creating a better now.