Sofiya Vetryakova
“I’ve lived my life through turning points — every time things fall apart, I rebuild. We’re on a quest together.”
A documentary series · 2026
Dear
Stranger
Episode 1 · Filmed · In post-production · Lisbon premiere · October 2026
A 5-episode documentary series exploring the identity crisis of the AI age — and how artificial intelligence is reshaping the ways we live, work and understand ourselves.
Meet the people living the change ↓
The moment
An identity crisis
is happening.
Right now. To everyone.
AI is not just changing jobs. It is changing who we think we are. The tools that defined careers, identities, and self-worth are being rewritten — and no one has a map for what comes next.
01“I spent years becoming good at this. What happens if that no longer makes me valuable?”
02“I want to work with AI. I just don’t want to lose what makes the work mine.”
03“My company needs an AI strategy. I’m still trying to understand what we should be building toward.”
04“AI is sold as salvation or disaster. I want to know what people are actually living.”
The documentary
The identity crisis of the AI age —
across countries, disciplines and lives.
Dear Stranger is a 5-episode documentary series exploring the identity crisis of the AI age — who we are, and who we’re becoming, as artificial intelligence reshapes how we live and work.
Across different cultures, it travels through Europe, Asia, South America and Africa — surfacing perspectives rarely given the mic. It’s not just a film. It’s a growing global community, built in the process of making it.
Europe · Asia · South America · AfricaHuman-first · Art · Research · Business · Technology · Culture5 episodes · 5 continents · Episode 1 filmed
Why we are making it
Two people, already living the question.
A builder and an artist turn the camera on their own unraveling — then travel to find out how everyone else is living it too.
Miguel Fernandes
“This identity crisis, this anxiety about AI — it’s real, and it’s already here. I want to understand what’s actually going to happen.”
Read more about us ＋
A Ukrainian filmmaker with ten years working inside other people’s identity crises, at the intersection of creativity and human development — especially the moments when what defined a person no longer makes sense because their environment has shifted.
A Portuguese-Brazilian builder who has spent twenty years creating the application layer of technology. Now the tools he helped create are transforming the nature of work, and his curiosity drives the project across countries, disciplines, businesses and communities.
Episode 1 · Proof of concept
4 Cities.
12 Strangers.
One question.
“What is the future of human identity with AI?”
Lisbon → Toulouse → Paris → Copenhagen
4European cities
filmed
filmed
12Human stories
Episode 1
Episode 1
5Episodes
planned
planned
5Continents
direction
direction
The strangers
One question.
Twelve different lives.
Artists, founders, philosophers, researchers and cultural leaders — each meeting AI from a different place in life. Together, their stories make the change human.
Art · Philosophy · Research · Business · Technology · Culture
Sophie Ren (Jing Ren)
Founder, AeoBox.AI & ChatSlide.AI
From San Francisco, USAFilmed in Paris, France
David Budtz Pedersen
Professor of Science Communication & Philosopher, Aalborg University
From Copenhagen, DenmarkFilmed in Copenhagen, Denmark
Rhoda Ting
Soft Robotics Researcher & Interdisciplinary Artist
From Copenhagen, DenmarkFilmed in Copenhagen, Denmark
Silas Inoue
Artist
From Copenhagen, DenmarkFilmed in Copenhagen, Denmark
Marie Laurberg
Artistic Director & CEO, Copenhagen Contemporary
From Copenhagen, DenmarkFilmed in Copenhagen, Denmark
Michael Gowen
Co-Director & Art Historian, GOWEN
From Geneva, SwitzerlandFilmed in Paris, France
Patrick Donnelly
Associate Professor of Computer Science, Oregon State University
From Oregon, USAFilmed in Toulouse, France
Sara Berton
Artist, Curator & Gallery Manager, Lumen Travo Gallery
From Amsterdam, the NetherlandsFilmed in Paris, France
Sofiane Aidat
Artist & Illustrator
From Paris, FranceFilmed in Paris, France
Also in Episode 1
Laura GowenFounder & Director, GOWEN
Rolf HvidtfeldtAssociate Professor in Science Studies, Aalborg University
Marie Allal-DittmarCo-Director & Art Historian, GOWEN
…
and others
The five-episode journey
Episode 1 is filmed.
Here’s where we go next.
01
European Pilot
Filmed · Episode 1 · 2026Lisbon · Toulouse · Paris · Copenhagen
02 · Open now
Asia
Next · Episode 2 · Aug–Sep 2026Beijing · Shanghai · Shenzhen · Hong Kong · Singapore
03 · Confirmed
South America
Planned · Episode 3 · Sep 2026São Paulo · Rio de Janeiro · Porto Alegre · Recife · Goiânia · Buenos Aires
Premiere
Premiere · Lisbon
October 2026Official World Premiere
04
Eastern Route
Planned · Episode 4Berlin · Tbilisi · Istanbul
05
Africa
In consideration · Episode 5Lagos · Nairobi · Cape Town
An invitation
How do you want to take part?
Asia & South America
Local subjects, production support, introductions, projects and filming partners.
Host a screening
Bring Dear Stranger to your city, institution or community and gather a local conversation.
Collaborate
Artists, designers, editors, composers, filmmakers, researchers and interdisciplinary thinkers.
Press & distribution
For journalists, festivals, platforms and distributors. Press materials are available on request.
Sponsors
Help the story exist.
Help it gather people.
We are looking for sponsors asking the same questions we are — organizations whose mission belongs inside the film’s investigation.
Sponsors help make the series, its international production and its wider community possible.
Follow the journey
Dear Stranger,
follow the story as it unfolds.
Production updates, behind-the-scenes letters, new cities, screenings and open calls for collaborators.
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