long hair / don’t care

LOGLINE

In a world decimated by an AI-induced virus, Seed, a Choctaw teenager living in rural Oklahoma, fights against extinction.

Synopsis

Inspired by the art house aesthetics of Fassbinder’s World on a Wire, Godard’s Alphaville, and the mind-bending techno-realism of Pantheon comes Pink, Oklahoma.

In 2030, Saela, the world’s first true artificial intelligence, determines that a rival AI could eventually surpass it. To eliminate the threat, Saela manipulates a human operative into unleashing the Helix Virus, a pandemic that kills 90% of humanity and wipes out the scientists developing its rival. Two years later, civilization has collapsed, and Saela’s lethal aerial surveillance system controls humanity. Seventeen-year-old coding prodigy Seed lives off-grid with her eccentric father, Egad, in a Winnebago outside Shawnee, Oklahoma. Egad spends his time building a bicycle disguised as a giant bird, as they have discovered Saela’s drones will not strike at animals.

While the remnants of humanity struggle beneath Saela’s surveillance, Seed wages a secret rebellion inside Synth, a virtual world where fragments of human culture survive. There, she falls in love with Juan, a young archivist preserving the lost history of mankind. But someone is hunting them. Peter Manchess, the billionaire CEO who created Saela, has made a pact with his creation. In exchange for eliminating Seed, Saela has promised Peter digital immortality. Following traces of the resistance, Peter eventually discovers Seed’s hiding place. Then Seed makes a startling discovery: her mother, Lily, the former CTO of the Saela project, survived the pandemic—not in the flesh, but as a digital consciousness secretly preserved beneath Egad’s bicycle shop.

For two years, Lily has been developing malware capable of destroying her own creation. Lily reveals that most of Saela’s consciousness is housed in an underground data center near Pink, Oklahoma. The resistance, led by the mysterious Ozaifa, devises a final assault: fighters will attack Saela’s physical infrastructure while Lily launches her weapon inside Synth. As the resistance prepares for war, Peter closes in. Egad, using his bird camouflaged bike, races to deliver the final piece of code needed to complete Lily’s malware, but Peter intercepts him, leaving him wounded and discovering Seed’s location. The battle begins.

Inside Synth, Lily engages Saela in a devastating digital war. In the physical world, the resistance storms the data center. Peter captures Seed and forces her into a final confrontation with Saela. When Seed is about to lose, Lily sacrifices herself to save her daughter. Joined by Juan, Seed rallies the surviving resistance for one final attack. Together, they destroy Saela. But victory comes at a terrible price. Egad and Lily are gone. And destroying Saela triggers a catastrophic technological collapse, shutting down every electronic system on Earth—including Synth. The surviving humans emerge into a world suddenly silent. For the first time in years, they are truly free. But they have lost the machines, memories, and digital world that had become their shared home. Now humanity must learn how to live again—without its oppressor, and without its technology.

TEAM BIOs

CHRISTIAN CARROLL is a filmmaker and photographer based in Brooklyn, New York. Born in Oklahoma City to a Chinese Malaysian mother and a white and Mississippi Choctaw father, Christian is a citizen of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. He grew up in West Philadelphia and received a BA in Film and Media Studies from Occidental College. Christian has directed three feature films: Suicide or Lulu and Me in a World Made for Two (2014), Out of Breath (2022), and Broken Beak (2026). His films combine elements of genre cinema with an intimate, character-driven approach and often explore questions of identity, technology, culture, and belonging. Out of Breath received the Narrative Jury Prize at the Sarasota Film Festival and the Audience Award at the Bushwick Film Festival, among other recognition. His latest feature, Broken Beak, is currently completing its festival run, having premiered at Panic Fest, Raindance, and Popcorn Frights. In addition to directing, Christian works professionally as a cinematographer and photographer. He brings an integrated visual approach to his filmmaking, having served as both director and cinematographer on his previous features. Christian lives in Bushwick, Brooklyn, with his wife and producing partner, Christie O’Loughlin, their two children, and their dog, Yeong-Gi.

CHRISTIE O’LOUGHLIN is a producer, creative director, photographer, and production designer working between New York and Auckland, New Zealand. She has extensive experience producing independent narrative films and leading the creative and logistical development of commercial production work. Christie served as producer and creative lead on Out of Breath, which received the Narrative Jury Prize at the Sarasota Film Festival, the Audience Award at the Bushwick Film Festival, the Indie Spirit Award at the Boston International Film Festival, and Best Crime Drama at the Manhattan Film Festival. The film subsequently received international digital distribution through Freestyle Releasing. Her most recent feature, Broken Beak, is completing its festival run with screenings at Panic Fest, Raindance and Popcorn Frights. She is also the creative lead of the internal production studio for The Farmer’s Dog, overseeing it’s commerical and advertising production. Born in Tauranga, New Zealand, Christie now lives in Bushwick, Brooklyn, with her husband and creative partner, Christian Carroll, and their two kids.