Streaming on Gem beginning December 4th
The robocar revolution is coming. It will save lives, increase urban green spaces and end gridlock. There's plenty to gain. But what do we lose?
Automated driving is the tonic that will rid our civic arteries of the cholesterol that is mass car ownership. Robo-taxis will free up time, boost productivity and improve mobility for seniors and the disabled. They'll liberate urban spaces from car parks and circulating drivers in favour of public gardens, mixed-use neighbourhoods and bike trails. As with all disruptive technologies, you win some and lose some.
Human drivers do things robots never would—text, eat, road-rage, drive drunk. Once we figure out the sticky issues of car automation—should the robodriver kill the child or kill you?—the end of human driving feels inevitable. Given all the advantages, should we care if human driving goes away?
The short answer is ABSOLUTELY. Driving is exhilarating, liberating, empowering and plain old fun. It's both a skill and an art form. A rite of passage and an escape hatch from stress. Driving taps into one of the most fundamental and powerful human emotions: nostalgia. DRIVE: THE DOCUMENTARY celebrates the unique joys of driving through the lens of a cast of colourful driving aficionados. For singer Jully Black, driving symbolizes self-empowerment that later enabled her to pursue music. For chef Michael Bonacini, driving is all about the lost elegance and dignity of yesteryear. In DRIVE, two teenagers tackle their drivers' test jitters to pass through the gateway into adulthood. A van-lifer likens the freedom of the road to a religious awakening and an octogenarian relishes her continued ability to drive as her secret weapon against the cruelties of old age while racing enthusiast Alex Roy leads a movement to save human driving from itself.
Together, their experiences deliver a powerful message: despite its downsides, mass car ownership is every bit worth the freedom, power and independence it delivers. Driving ourselves might one day seem impractical. But so is vinyl when you have MP3s. Driverless is the MP3. Driving is vinyl.
A Sunday Night Entertainment Production
Produced, Directed + Written by
SCOTT HARPER
DOP
CHRISTOPHER McKAY
Edited by
TONY COLEMAN
Additional Editing by
MIKE HOWEY + MIKE MUNN
Original Music by
ANDY McNEILL
Sound
SCOTT BELL
Supervisor Producer
NIDA MARJI
Associate Producer
ERICA LEENDERTSE-SMITH
Production Coordinator
ELIZABETH HODGSON
Featuring
JULLY BLACK
HARROD BLANK
MICHAEL BONACINI
SEAN DAY
MARK KINGWELL
GARY NUMAN
DONALD OSBOUNE
TALLI OSBORNE
CAROLYN QUAN
ALEX ROY
NICOLE + DANIELLA RANIERI
JEAN SMITH
ABOUT SUNDAY NIGHT
Dedicated to compelling non-fiction storytelling, Sunday Night Entertainment makes character-driven, social issue and science documentary, factual series and branded content.
AIRING ON CBC DOCUMENTARY CHANNEL
Date TBA
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