This is awesome. Future States is a sci-fi television project comprised of eleven short films exploring possible future scenarios through the prism of today's global realities. Season one features works by exciting indie filmmakers like Ben Rekhi, Greg Pak, Amyn Kaderali, Tanuj Chopra, Tze Chun and more.

Forget Avatar. This is thoughtful, intelligent sci-fi without Decepticons or blazing cannons. Each episode presents a different filmmaker's vision of American society in the not-too-distant future, fusing an exploration of social issues with elements of speculative and science fiction.

Presented by Independent Television Service (ITVS), with support by Corporation for Public Broadcasting (your federal funding at work!), all eleven episodes are available for viewing at the Future States website here. I haven't made my way through all of them, but so far they're pretty fascinating and really well produced. Check it out.

UPDATE: And if you're in the Bay Area, you can catch five of the shorts -- Fallout, Mister Green, The Other Side, Pia and Silver Sling -- next week in the FutureStates program at the 28th San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival. Directors Amyn Kaderali and Tanuj Chopra will be in attendance at the screening.