Starseed

(Status: in production)

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Starseed is an awaited new animated feature film project by Anca Damian, a multi-award winning animated feature film director and producer.
As with her previous splendid feature films, this film project employs the magic of animation to guide us into a very fascinating and fantastical visual world.
It depicts a meticulously crafted story about a journey of self‑empowerment for children.
We heard insightful stories behind the creation of the film comprehensively, from its story to its visuals, from Anca.

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Interview with Anca Damian

Hideki Nagaishi (HN): Could you please let us know the film’s story in brief, along with the message or experience you would like to deliver to the audience through the film?

Anca Damian: The story of the film, summarised, can sound like this:

In Los Angeles, a township of Zimbabwe, Loveness—a preteen albino girl mourning the recent loss of her grandmother—grows up with her spirited friends, Dumi and Gloria. All three dream of better places to be. Their world is parched by drought; the local river has dried up, and with it, Magagasi, the river Goddess, has vanished. Then, one day, an eccentric time-traveler named King Black arrives from the future. When an unimaginable evil stalks Loveness, her chance of escape may be to leave behind her home and two best friends to join an aunt in Canada. Yet, there’s another once-in-a-lifetime opportunity: King Black’s strange and wondrous universe, in which the kids can travel in time, connecting with Magagasi and bringing back the river.

It is the story of children who are able to write THEIR story and who dare to create a different version of their lives in order to live in a better world.

The audience should have a magical experience, travelling through the knot of time with our characters and broadening their perception of the world.

HN: What do you think are the key points of this animated feature film that would attract the target audience?

Anca Damian: I think Starseed is a unique film that can be described as a journey of self-empowerment for children, set in a magical and visually captivating world.

It also features humour, appealing characters, and a captivating storyline.

I believe that films which blend emotion and entertainment to deliver significant messages are unquestionably the most impactful.

They provide not only a verbal and theoretical statement, but also a sensory and emotional experience that resonates with the imagination.

HN: Could you please let us know where the initial idea of the film’s story came from?

Anca Damian: The idea for this scenario came to me when I read a news item about an incident that occurred in Zimbabwe in 1994, where children claimed to have seen aliens. According to them, humans were not taking proper care of the Earth! A mirror from another space to confront us with our disturbing truth. I then began to develop this idea of a mirror between space and time, past, present, and future, as a solution to the ills afflicting our planet.

It is a spiral of time, where everything is connected, and where the characters find the courage to take charge of their lives.

HN: How has NoViolet Bulawayo joined this film project? And what did you take care of and place the highest importance on during the writing of the script with NoViolet?

Anca Damian: When I started researching African literature, I came across the book We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo. She is an acclaimed writer who has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize with both of her books. I contacted her and was delighted when she agreed to collaborate on the script. Transforming the concept into a story was challenging. She grounded the story and its characters in the African reality she knows well, having lived there for most of her life. But more than anything, she brought a blend of harshness and softness, humour and magic to the story. I spent two weeks in Zimbabwe with her, working on the documentation, and we spent two months writing together while we were in Europe. Our writing process was symbiotic. Together, we wanted to create a story that would empower future generations.

HN: How did you design the visuals, such as the characters and the story universe? And what kinds of things did you focus on and pay attention to during that creation?

Anca Damian: I started working on the design with Gina Thorstensen, a Norwegian artist with whom I had previously collaborated on Marona’s Fanfic Tale and The Island. Drawing inspiration from African culture, we developed an organic look, blending textures and colours.

While beauty and magic must be grounded in reality, I was fortunate to engage in a transcontinental dialogue: the renowned South African architect Mpheti Morojele designed the sets, and the renowned Kenyan futurist artist Cyrus Kabiru designed the props.

The magnificent drawings and concepts of Gina Thorstensen and Mpheti Morojele needed to be translated in 3D, which introduces new challenges, particularly with regard to lighting, texturing, transparency, configuration, and rendering. The magical and vibrant atmosphere of the Starseed universe requires the image to be enriched with various visual effects.

HN: Regarding the film’s music, do you have anything you can share at this point about your vision and the collaboration with the composer?

Anca Damian: I always consider music to play a central role in my animated films, and collaborating with composers is a delight.

Working with Franco-Ghanaian composer Thibault Kientz Agyeman is an amazing process. I work with references, but he elevates my intentions to an epic level.