The news surprised people, it was natural, inevitably would do do. An AI filmmaker had created a unique 135-minute film inspired by: odyssey — a public domain work, to be sure, but also clearly the domain of Christopher Nolan in “Our Demonic Lords” this summer of 2026.
The filmmakers said they would postpone the film’s release. Odysseus: The Fall — At least for the next few weeks. However, that did not stop the backlash. What was the game of provocateur Ash Kusha, an Iranian-born, British-raised millennial engineer? Why would he make a movie about the same subject as Nolan’s $250 million blockbuster for a few thousand dollars and without actors?
And how did his new feature work? violet’s dreamhis far more sympathetic AI film about the recent Iranian democracy movement, which premiered at Tribeca last month?
That the incident occurred at a moment when Nolan was at odds with star Matt Damon over whether there was a future in big-scale analog filmmaking (Damon said, “I knew this was the last chance I had to do something like this,” and Nolan fired back, calling him a “defeatist”) only added to the flames. Deep down, Kusha seemed intent on hastening Damon’s prophesied end to the film, but the source material itself seems to have staved it off.
So hollywood reporter He called Kusha, his brother and co-creator Pooya, and his producer (CNBC founder Tom Rogers, who with them founded Fountain 0, an AI-centric filmmaking flag) and explained what they were trying to do. They have a vision for a film that is both compelling and, for some, definitely provocative and upsetting.
I know the last few days have been a little difficult for you. How did it feel on your end after making this announcement?
Ash Kusha: There was a lot of excitement, a lot of questions, and a lot of confusion. We want to be clear: we are not against Christopher Nolan. He’s doing what he does in the old movie world. And he does it brilliantly. But there is room for something new in the new world. I odyssey I’ve been a fan since I was a kid. I learned about the Nolan film from Reddit, which focuses on Homer. I was obsessed with all the questions about Agamemnon’s costume and all the other details. My goal is not to make the same movie as him. It’s about creating your own story using tools.
I think a lot of people saw what you did. violet’s dream It was OK because we could not safely enter Tehran for filming and there is a humanitarian urgency to the subject matter. That’s not really the case here.
AK: I see them as relevant. violet’s dream Questions arose, but this also led to deeper questions, questions that matter to the industry. “Can we tell stories at the speed of news?” “Can people other than people like Christopher Nolan use tools to draw?” “If we could, what could we create?”
So, like all the direct-to-video copy movies we’ve seen for a while in this blockbuster era, don’t see this as a trade-off for an existing hit. I mean, I can understand why people see it that way.
AK: Not at all. We see it as part of a larger news conversation. Before these AI tools, if you had a theory about Odysseus, you could write a substack about him. I’m sure some people will read it, but how many? Now I can put my opinion into the movie. I can express my opinions with images, sounds, and lights. And more people can see it.
In other words, it is more like a kind of discursive device than a derivative genre.
AK: I call it tangential filmmaking. It’s any other story that can exist alongside the main story in the movie theater.
Tom Rogers: It’s obviously difficult to stand on the same level as Christopher Nolan. everyone agrees with him odyssey It’s an excellent film. and we want I hope people watch that movie. But hopefully they’ll see ours too. Christopher Nolan is the ultimate figure in physical filmmaking, and what we’re trying to do is be the ultimate figure in AI filmmaking.
AK: Indeed, you cannot judge them on the same terms. They are 125 years old, but we are still in the early stages. So, naturally, there will be bumps in the road. But it can be achieved with effort. For me, it’s a whole new kind of movie, low risk, high reward.
TR: We just want to show you what’s possible when you don’t have to worry about a budget. We want people to know that not everything is sloppy.
So what specific views about Odysseus do you think your film will help reveal?
AK: I don’t think he is well understood. I don’t want to say too much, but as someone who comes from Iran and moved to the West as a child, I think I can kind of understand his story and what it means to be so far from home. It wasn’t just ego that motivated him.
When will we actually see this? odyssey?
Pooya Kusha: I think I’ll wait a while, at least until the end of summer. We don’t want people to feel overloaded or confused. That’s important to us.
TR: We could have released it now, but we’re not trying to fool people. We want to be able to make clear comparisons.
I want to go back to the idea of tangential filmmaking. It’s a refreshing perspective, and it harkens back to the early days of the web, when everyone started blogging and people said, “But why would you want to read anything other than the mainstream media?” And of course we did, and they coexist. You’re saying that Hollywood and film production are now going to get the same treatment, that thanks to AI, we’ll have the same bottom-up explosion of film content that internet distribution has enabled for media.
AK: Yes, that’s right. There’s room for all kinds of movies, and AI is finally making it possible. There have been many years where you had to have enough money to make a movie, but you had to be Christopher Nolan to make a movie of a certain scale, and there were things even he couldn’t do. Concentration of profits became a barrier to entry. All that stuff will disappear. That’s what we’re trying to achieve.
PK: I hope many others will join in and do this. This is about something very broad and democratic.
TR: Yes, that’s the whole goal of Fountain 0. That means getting the most out of your tools.
It would have been remiss of me not to ask about the actors. If tangential filmmaking takes off, the majority of movies we’ll see won’t include tangential filmmaking. Is that a vision you have or are you okay with it?
TR: I think this makes actors even more valuable, both in old world films and in live theater. People will want to see them too, maybe even more so now.
This is an interesting vision of coexistence. Actors succeed in one format of film and then don’t participate in another format.; Traditional shoots pervade one form, but right next to them these shoddy homemade projects abound.
AK: That’s all we’re trying to do. To show that you can make great movies like Christopher Nolan. However, you can also use AI models to create gorgeous movies.
