Reflective Encounters

“Nadim Choufi’s film is a stunning work of speculative fiction, one which moves beyond the mere demands of superficial immersion, weaving together a layered history and focusing on the complete re-orientation of human existence, the results of which appear alien. The film is comprised of anecdotes from the survivors of an implied climate catastrophe who have migrated to Mars: ranging from descriptions of the limits of socialisation within a small population to tracing out the scientific minutia of failed attempts at terraforming.

The form of this short – of CGI models and environments with layered over with disembodied voiceovers – comes to resemble the diagrams you view in a science class, eschewing explicit realism for descriptive purposes. This exhibits itself in models of animals with ragdoll physics, amusing liquid animations which illustrate a colony’s energy needs and porcelain white human figures who almost appear bleached and sterilised by their unrelenting environments. What Choufi depicts here ultimately feels less like a cautionary tale and more a prophetic vision of what’s to come. But of course, even amidst decay and destruction, life still finds a way, and the pleasures of the old world can twist themselves into new shapes, like watching a newly engineered organism have an enclosed dance party.”

— Matthew Chan