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The Material Cloud Film Festival - Exploring the Swedish Red Cross's Role in a changing AI-Driven World.
What are the hidden environmental and human costs of AI — and how should humanitarian actors respond?
You are invited to an urgent discussion exploring the connection between AI, the environment, and society
AI is not just a tool; it is actively shaping how decisions are made and how resources are allocated. Sweden has recently released its national AI strategy (Sveriges AI-strategi – Regeringen.se), signalling an ambition to accelerate AI adoption across society — with far-reaching implications, from automating decisions in asylum and migration processes to applications in healthcare.
What might this mean for humanitarian organisations, for affected communities, and for international humanitarian law? How should the Swedish Red Cross and other concerned actors respond?
Join the conversation at a critical time.
(Sveriges AI-strategi - Regeringen.se).
Stockholm | March–April 2026 | Free admission
The Material Cloud Film Festival is a three-night film festival exploring the often unseen material realities behind artificial intelligence, including labour conditions, extractive supply chains, and power concentration.
As AI expands into nearly every sector of society, it is frequently framed as clean, efficient and intangible. Yet behind its sleek interfaces lie vast infrastructures, hidden workforces and resource-intensive systems that raise urgent ethical and political questions.
Through film screenings and expert-led discussions, the festival invites audiences to ask: What lies behind the cloud?
Each evening features a carefully selected film exploring a different dimension of AI. Topics range from human labour and bias in training data to mineral extraction, contamination, and the environmental and emotional costs of sustaining algorithmic systems.
All events are open to the public and free of charge.
The Material Cloud Film Festival is presented by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie project LIBRA, supported by the KTH Environmental Humanities Laboratory, the Swedish Red Cross, ForumCiv, Digital Futures and the Centre for Anthropocene History.
PROGRAMME
Film: Humans in the Loop
5 March 2026
Doors open: 17:30 | Screening starts: 18:00
Stockholms konstnärliga högskola (SKH)
Valhallavägen 189, Stockholm
The festival opens with Humans in the Loop (India, 2024, 72 minutes), a documentary examining the often unseen labour that underpins AI systems. The film follows a data annotator as she trains algorithms while confronting bias, inequality and the human costs of automation.
Inspired by journalist Karishma Mehrotra’s 2022 article Human Touch (FiftyTwo), the film highlights the significant role women play in data annotation and explores how AI systems often have the greatest impact on already marginalised communities.
The screening will be introduced by producer Mathivanan Rajendran
Post-screening discussion with Paola Torres, Head of the Critical AI Working Group (SKH) and Parth MN, author of Death of an Indian Worker. A formal mingling will follow.
Film: Extraction and Contamination
18 March 2026
Doors open: 17:30 | Screening starts: 18:00
ForumCiv, Alsnögatan 7, 116 44 Stockholm
The second evening focuses on the mineral extraction that fuels AI infrastructure. Two short films: Donde los niños no sueñan and Paradise Island, directed by Stefano Sbrulli (Source International), take audiences into communities affected by heavy metal contamination in Latin America and Southeast Asia.
The films will be introduced remotely by director Stefano Sbrulli (joining from Rome).
Post-screening panel discussion with Charlie Wilson, University of Oxford and Somya Joshi, Stockholm Environment Institute.
Boka biljett till:
I Donde los niños no sueñan I 18 mars
Film: In the Belly of AI (Swedish premiere)
14 April 2026
Doors open: 16:00 | Screening starts: 17:00
Bio Skandia,
Drottninggatan 82, Stockholm
The festival concludes with a special premiere screening at Bio Skandia.
Shown in Sweden for the first time, In the Belly of AI offers an intimate look at the lives of the unseen workers who train algorithms. The film explores the emotional toll of content moderation and data labour, while also examining the environmental and governance implications of AI development worldwide.
This closing event is supported by the Swedish Red Cross and will feature distinguished guests from the private sector, public institutions, academia, and civil society.
A panel discussion with scholars, humanitarian professionals, and practitioners will follow the screening.
Boka biljett till:
"In the Belly of AI" den 14 april
About the festival
The Material Cloud Film Festival is promoted by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie project LIBRA (Grant no. 101150729) and supported by ETH Environmental Humanities Laboratory, The Centre for Anthropocene History, ForumCiv, Digital Futures and the Swedish Red Cross. The festival aims to create public dialogue on the socio-environmental dimensions of artificial intelligence, using cinema as a starting point for collective reflection and debate.
Support by EU Commission, Grant Number 101150729
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