09/28/2026
How do AI editing tools shape the stories we tell?
Join us tomorrow, September 29, for the REALITY CHECK: AI + Documentary Working Group keynote presentation:
STORY MACHINE: Documentary Film Editing and the Digital Process, presented by Nick Hector, ACE.
Story Machine: Documentary Film Editing and the Digital Process examines the artistic consequences of assistive AI on documentary editorial practice. Drawing on a practitioner-based comparative study in which the same raw materials were edited using contemporary digital methods and analogue-inspired strategies, the presentation considers how editorial tools shape narrative form. It argues that AI-assisted workflows tend to encourage non-linear, dialogue-driven structures, while analogue approaches foster more immersive narratives organized around time and place. Ultimately, Story Machine proposes that documentary filmmakers must resist digital tools that impose mechanical order on the emotional complexity and inherent unpredictability of human experience.
Presenter: Nick Hector, ACE, is an Associate Professor and Chair of Graduate Studies in the Department of Communication, Media, and Film at the University of Windsor. He has worked in documentary production for over 40 years as a film editor and producer. Nick’s creative work has been exhibited by Sundance, Berlinale, TIFF, IDFA, Hot Docs, Visions du Réel, DOK Leipzig, Sheffield DocFest, and MoMA and is included in the Criterion Collection.
đź“… Tuesday, September 29
🕛 12–1:30 pm ET
đź“Ť RSVP Link in Bio for the AI + Doc Working Group to receive the Zoom link.
