Film Ireland Presents: David Burke Director of Father of the Cyborgs

In this Film Ireland podcast, Gemma Creagh talks to David Burke about his film Father of the Cyborgs.Father of the Cyborgs looks at the fascinating life and career of Irish neuroscientist Dr Phil Kennedy. In the late 1990s he made global headlines for implanting several wire electrodes in the brain of a paralysed man and then teaching the locked-in patient to control a computer cursor with his mind.He was compared to Alexander Graham Bell in The Washington Post and became known as ‘The Father of the Cyborgs’. He made the headlines more recently in 2014 when he travelled to South American and had tiny electrodes implanted inside his own brain in order to continue his research. The documentary examines the ethics of self-experimentation and the unintended consequences of a future where technology and human brains combine.The documentary is the directorial debut of David Burke who co-produces with Sean Ó’Cualáin. The pair previously worked together on the IFTA-nominated documentary Crash and Burn.Father of the Cyborgs is in cinemas from 24th September 2021.Over the years, the podcast has featured acclaimed guests such as Phyllida Lloyd, Lenny Abrahamson, M. Night Shyamalan, John Boorman, Saoirse Ronan, Colin Farrell, Aisha Tyler, Colm Meaney, Paul Reiser, Niamh Algar, David Freyne, Ciarán Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer, John Crowley, Niamh Algar, Gene Stupnitsky, and Terence Davies, alongside many of the most influential voices working in film and television today.So make sure to subscribe and listen back! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.