2020 Nominees

Coded World

CNA, Peddling Pictures

JAPAN, SINGAPORE, SWEDEN, UK, USA

Documentary & Factual - Science and Technology

Algorithms are everywhere and changing everything today. Anjan Sundaram, journalist and mathematician, travels around the world meeting some of the people designing this code and some of the people affected by this algorithmic revolution. Anjan explores what algorithms are, how they work and what they can and cannot do. We learn how code and algorithms are the building blocks for almost all advanced technology today, from Amazon shopping recommendations to the most sophisticated AI. We see how code is making and taking our choices; affecting the fate of nations and the freedom of individuals; being used to create virtual beings, communities and worlds, and ultimately changing who and what we will become in tomorrow’s world. Are algorithms good or bad? Or just tools we have created to help us? That is part of what we will discover along the way. The goal of our series is not to explain the math but to illustrate the impact of code in our lives.