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Short abstract

Latin American science fiction films depict technological futures that diverge considerably from those dominant in Western film cultures. This presentation explores these alternative visions, highlighting distinctive features, cultural and historical contexts, and the value of engaging with them.

Long abstract

Latin American science fiction films offer alternative visions of technological futures that diverge considerably from those dominant in Western film cultures. Rather than constructing speculative far-future scenarios of hyper-intelligent machines threatening human control, Latin American films foreground sociotechnical issues, lived experiences and harms associated with artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies in the Global Souths, such as data colonialism, exploitative labor regimes, and resource extraction tied to hardware production. In doing so, these films give cinematic form to critiques long articulated by decolonial scholars. Alongside historically grounded scenarios of oppression, social control, and the exploitation of Latin American communities by authoritarian regimes and/or tech corporations, however, Latin American science fiction films also articulate alternative visions of more desirable futures. These visions include, on the one hand, scenarios of effective resistance to technology-driven oppression, foregrounding the decolonial appropriation and resignification of technologies as a central strategy. On the other hand, some films envision a reorientation toward nature and human connection—embracing solidarity, care, and interpersonal encounter, with or without the integration of technologies. By centering human experience and agency over machine agency, these films generate not only cautionary but also activating and empowering effects. In doing so, they respond to—and at times anticipate—current calls for science fiction to move beyond speculative far-future narratives and to engage with the urgent contemporary challenges posed by emerging technologies. Unpacking these alternative yet largely invisible visions is essential for imagining and collectively building more resilient, pluriversal, and just futures.