Quantum Cowboys, a western in all its states

By Juliette Moreno

If you like to leave a movie feeling like you haven’t understood anything, you’ll love Quantum Cowboys. This American western, premiering at the Annecy 2022 festival, uses physical and philosophical thought experiments to tell its story. We follow Bruno and Frank, two young vagabonds in search of redemption who cross the path of Linde, a young woman ready to do anything to recover her land. The path of the three unlucky men takes another unexpected turn when they come across a door that allows them to change reality by passing from one alternative dimension to another. We then accompany them on an adventure through parallel universes.

It’s no surprise that director and co-writer Geoff Marslett is a former physicist with a passion for science fiction. That’s why he is so good at recreating the unique and surreal atmosphere of quantum physics. However – just like an electron in two different states – the greatest quality of the film is at the same time its greatest flaw. One gets lost. Everything is too complex. The adventure we follow and the relationships between the many characters is already difficult enough to follow before we add quantum parameters. The characters travel through 12 different dimensions, each of which is a different version of the story, generated by the different decisions they make.

But even if you don’t like to have your brain smoking in front of a movie, the experience is recommended, at least for your eyes. The film’s visuals brilliantly support the story using 12 different graphic styles. From live action to 3D animation to stop motion, each style represents a different dimension.

For your eyes or your head, you can discover the film in theaters starting June 13.

Nayola: war through a female perspective

By Ellison Girod

For the second day in Annecy, we were amazed while watching José Miguel Ribeiro’s film ‘Nayola’. This adaptation of the original Angolan play features beautiful storytelling using both 2D and 3D in such a creative way. By switching between the two, they demonstrate the two worlds of Nayola, caught in the combat of the war of 1995, and Yara, her daughter, amongst another war in 2011. Accompanying Yara is her grandmother Lelena, mother of Nayola. The story is told entirely from a female perspective, presenting what have been the real life experiences for many Angolan women. While we switch between the perspectives of each generation, we are able to see the parallels and overlap in their experiences. Eventually coming to a realization of the full story in the end, we again get to see the visual storytelling of 2D and 3D, with the ending really creating an impact. We get to really understand the lasting impact of war, and the masks we all wear to hide ourselves, or sometimes show our true selves.

Presenting this film as representatives of the full team was of course the Portuguese director José Miguel Ribeiro himself accompanied by two of the producers, Camille Raulo, and Jean-François Bigot. Finally, we got to hear from lead actress Elisângela Kadina Rita, voice of Nayola. She spoke of her experience in spoken word art, how connected she felt to the film, and how proud she is to share these stories that are relevant to so many she knows. We learned as well about the 5 years of research put into this project, meeting the voice actors in Angola, and the emotion that motivated the production.

Truly, it was such an experience to watch. From the strong animation style, to the music infused into the environment and story, and exposure to such a rich culture, I can’t wait to see even more like it as the festival continues on.