Robot Stories

Running time: N/A

A whimsical quartet of short stories, alternately humorous and moving, featuring a standout cast that includes Tamlyn Tomita (Joy Luck Club) and Sab Shimono (Suture). A successful marketing executive has her life turned upside down when she learns to take care of a mechanical infant as a dry run for adopting a real baby in "My Robot Baby." In "The Robot Fixer" the grieving mother of a teenage coma victim is determined to put together the perfect action figure collection in hopes that it will help her son's recovery. Set in the near future, the inspired "Machine Love" follows the unexpected growing attraction between two human replicas in a heartless corporate business. Mortality and memory are gently explored in "Clay," as an aged sculptor learns he has little time to live and has to decide whether to have his consciousness electronically preserved for the ages. Writer-director Greg Pak (All Amateur Ecstasy, Po Mo Knock Knock) returns to Cinequest by delivering his debut feature, Robot Stories -a thoughtful, entertaining look at the future of our lives. - Fernando F. Croce