In Detroit, police arrest Robert Williams, making him the first documented case of wrongful arrest caused by a facial recognition technology (FRT) mismatch. In Toronto, Somali refugee Ahlam Hassan faces deportation based on FRT misidentifying her as a Kenyan national. In New York, civil rights lawyer Stefanie Coyle receives a panicked email from parents in an upstate school district that quietly installed FRT.

ExCoded interweaves Robert, Ahlam, and Stefanie’s stories with other unfolding international cases, from the UK to Brazil, Korea to Palestine. Bringing together never-before-seen investigative materials and visceral on-the-ground coverage, our key participants’ stories are situated in the global context of AI-powered surveillance systems, contrasting the real impacts on their lives with the cold algorithmic gaze of facial recognition-powered cameras. ExCoded examines what happens when regular, unsuspecting people are caught in the nightmarish web of algorithmic misfire.

The impact goals and strategy, teaser and film team contacts will be posted here in February 2027.