EXCLUSIVE: ITVS’ Emmy-winning series Independent Lens has acquired U.S. broadcast rights to Ghost in the Machine, an essayistic expose of Artificial Intelligence directed by Valerie Veatch. The film, which premiered at Sundance, will have a spring community screening tour and summer theatrical release before bowing on PBS in fall 2026.
Ghost in the Machine “is a gripping and urgently relevant investigative documentary that exposes the buried history of artificial intelligence, not as a neutral system of algorithms, but as a technology shaped by racism, misogyny, eugenics, and entrenched power structures long before it entered everyday life,” notes a release. “Challenging the myth of AI as inevitable or objective, the film traces how narratives of progress and efficiency have obscured deeper political and cultural agendas, revealing the ideological foundations beneath systems now reshaping modern society.”
Watch the trailer below.
Deadline’s Doc Talk podcast, hosted by Oscar winner John Ridley and Deadline’s senior documentary editor Matt Carey, played an unanticipated matchmaker role in the acquisition. An ITVS producer heard Ridley’s interview with filmmaker Veatch on the podcast and moved by the discussion, brought the film to the attention of Independent Lens founding executive producer Lois Vossen. CAA Media Finance then negotiated the acquisition deal with ITVS on behalf of the filmmakers.
Veatch’s film offers audiences “a visceral understanding of a technology that now touches nearly every aspect of modern life,” according to the release.
“Ghost in the Machine is a wake-up call inside a searing analysis of power, technology, capitalism, its dangers to the environment, and how the uber elite view democracy,” Vossen commented. “It cuts through the noise by connecting the dots between what’s being spun about AI and the emerging new world order, nationally and internationally, that will affect nearly every aspect of our lives. It also serves as a conduit to pull us in a more reasonable direction.”
In a statement, Veatch said, “I’m deeply grateful to Lois and the entire team at ITVS for recognizing both the urgency and the cinematic ambition of this film. From the beginning, this project set out to interrogate the mythologies surrounding artificial intelligence and to make visible the human choices embedded within these systems. ITVS’ commitment to bold, independent storytelling ensures that Ghost in the Machine will reach communities across the country, which is exactly where this conversation needs to happen.”
Ghost in the Machine premiered in the NEXT section at Sundance, generating significant attention. Ms. Magazine said the film “should be required viewing for anyone who blithely interacts with AI chatbots… without considering its real-world and very human costs.” And RogerEbert.com described it as “a reminder for humanity to put the machine in its rightful place, before it tries to put us in ours.”
ITVS is the largest co-producer of independent documentaries in the United States. It’s behind two films that just premiered at the True/False documentary festival in Columbia, MO: Pinball and Who Moves America. Recent productions include Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, The Inquisitor, Hidden Letters, and The Librarians, which was recently acquired by Independent Lens.
Watch the trailer for Ghost in the Machine here:
English (US) ·