Saelyx Finna on FANTASTIC PLANET, TIME MASTERS: ‘A pairing of animation must-sees’
THIS WEEKEND: don’t miss two of the wildest rides of critically acclaimed animation, both from René Laloux — introduced below by Nightlight friend and member, Saelyx Finna!
Pause the Pixar. It’s time for an interstellar double feature by the titans of '70s/'80s animation.
FANTASTIC PLANET
In 1973, French René Laloux won the Grand Prix special jury prize at Cannes for his unprecedented and unparalleled FANTASTIC PLANET. Far in the future on the planet Ygam, humans are pitted against giant blue creatures called Draags in an existential battle of astral proportions.
This is experimental ‘70s sci-fi at its most expansive: think meditation as a means of astral travel, a surreal cut-out animation style, psychedelic score, and potent existential allegory for the civil rights battles of the ‘60s and ‘70s, still reverberant today.
THE TIME MASTERS
It was nearly a decade until Laloux’s next feature, 1982’s TIME MASTERS. This time he teamed up with legendary French cartoonist Mœbius (Jean Giraud), who had, the same year, crafted the concept art and storyboards for TRON. Imagine a scrappy Millenium Falcon crew but ratchet up the weirdo factor, then send them on a trippy fever dream across the cosmos — and you’ve more or less got the premise. A singular collaboration of Laloux and Mœbius, THE TIME MASTERS is a must-see for animation nuts, sci fi fans and the metaphysically curious alike.
Saelyx Finna’s Bio
Saelyx Finna (she/they) is an independent film programmer, impact producer, and distribution consultant. Through her consultancy, Context Moves, Saelyx has worked with Sundance, AMC, DOC NYC, the Criterion Collection, Film Independent, Cinereach, Academy Award nominees, and George R.R. Martin's Highgarden Entertainment.
Previously known as Courtney Sheehan, Saelyx is the former artistic and executive director for Northwest Film Forum, the nonprofit film center in Seattle. She is the co-founder of Alliance for Action, a national network of film exhibitors and distributors working to make the film industry more equitable. Her work has been featured in The New York Times and on the Criterion Channel. Saelyx also works in the emerging space of dream neurotechnology. She is currently developing Under the Dream, a work of somatic cinema about the multiverse of our dreaming minds.