Fears of a future where artificial intelligence overpowers flesh-and-blood humans have always been a paramount tenet of sci-fi storytelling. And when these sentient robots closely resemble human behavior and exterior appearance (as in “Blade Runner” or “AI Artificial Intelligence”), then the conundrum of whether they should be granted human dignity rather than being seen as disposable presents itself. But the closer that such a hypothetical reality feels to our present — with generative AI threatening artistic creation, for example — the less likely it seems we will ever feel compassion for these entities.
French director Jérémie Périn’s cyberpunk mystery “Mars Express” manages to further complicate our sentiments with its dense yet satisfying world-building. A gripping, heady and refreshing 2D animated take on the perils of man and machine coexisting, Périn’s first feature as a director inserts the necessary exposition in a mostly natural manner so we incrementally become aware of how this reality functions.
French director Jérémie Périn’s cyberpunk mystery “Mars Express” manages to further complicate our sentiments with its dense yet satisfying world-building. A gripping, heady and refreshing 2D animated take on the perils of man and machine coexisting, Périn’s first feature as a director inserts the necessary exposition in a mostly natural manner so we incrementally become aware of how this reality functions.
- 5/3/2024
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Variety Film + TV
Like so many cyberpunk movies before it, Jérémie Périn’s ultra-cool and dazzlingly animated “Mars Express” is sustained by the vertigo between the boundlessness of computer technology and the banality of what people do with it. What separates this accomplished French “Ghost in the Shell” homage from its most obvious touchstone — and from several other detective stories in which a police team of people and androids investigate what it means to be human — is the film’s determination to dismantle that dynamic.
Much less nakedly philosophical than anything Mamoru Oshii has ever made, “Mars Express” is nevertheless fascinated by the future that artificial intelligence might choose for itself if it were unshackled from the limits of our mortal imaginations (and from the anxieties that come along with them). Périn is humble enough to only half-guess at an answer, but his steadfast conviction that humans and robots could mutually inhibit the...
Much less nakedly philosophical than anything Mamoru Oshii has ever made, “Mars Express” is nevertheless fascinated by the future that artificial intelligence might choose for itself if it were unshackled from the limits of our mortal imaginations (and from the anxieties that come along with them). Périn is humble enough to only half-guess at an answer, but his steadfast conviction that humans and robots could mutually inhibit the...
- 5/1/2024
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
GKids has North American rights to the Cannes and Annecy title.
GKids has scooped North American rights to stylish space-set French animation feature Mars Express from mk2 Films, which has also sold the film to other key territories worldwide.
Jérémie Périn’s debut feature, which premiered in Cannes and played in competition at Annecy, is an action-driven futuristic film noir that blends 2D and 3D animation and poses questions about humanity’s relationship with AI.
GKids will release the film in theatres in its original French language in addition to a new English-dubbed version in 2024 following a November 22 release in France via Gebeka Films.
GKids has scooped North American rights to stylish space-set French animation feature Mars Express from mk2 Films, which has also sold the film to other key territories worldwide.
Jérémie Périn’s debut feature, which premiered in Cannes and played in competition at Annecy, is an action-driven futuristic film noir that blends 2D and 3D animation and poses questions about humanity’s relationship with AI.
GKids will release the film in theatres in its original French language in addition to a new English-dubbed version in 2024 following a November 22 release in France via Gebeka Films.
- 10/26/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Playing in competition in Annecy after premiering in Cannes, Jérémie Périn’s sci-fi thriller “Mars Express” offers an uncommon spin on modern anxieties — particularly when it comes to AI.
“We so often imagine that if robots became sentient, they’ll kill us,” Périn tells Variety. “Or we see many sci-fi films where robots want to become human. In short, humans are always the point of reference – so mysterious and strange and interesting, such an amazing species. We’re a bit pretentious, and I didn’t want to play on that.”
Written by Périn and Laurent Sarfati, “Mars Express” serves a heady pop-culture cocktail, mixing hard-boiled fiction with science-fantasy comix, riffing on Philip Marlow and Philip K. Dick (with winks to “Watchmen” and “Robocop” and oh so many more) with a mystery yarn that places humans and cyborgs on equal footing.
“The film says robots and human are different, so we have to accept those differences.
“We so often imagine that if robots became sentient, they’ll kill us,” Périn tells Variety. “Or we see many sci-fi films where robots want to become human. In short, humans are always the point of reference – so mysterious and strange and interesting, such an amazing species. We’re a bit pretentious, and I didn’t want to play on that.”
Written by Périn and Laurent Sarfati, “Mars Express” serves a heady pop-culture cocktail, mixing hard-boiled fiction with science-fantasy comix, riffing on Philip Marlow and Philip K. Dick (with winks to “Watchmen” and “Robocop” and oh so many more) with a mystery yarn that places humans and cyborgs on equal footing.
“The film says robots and human are different, so we have to accept those differences.
- 6/12/2023
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Inaugurated in 2021, the Annecy Residency program takes three selected projects on a six-month journey, beginning with a three-month script workshop before moving to Annecy’s Papeteries Image Factory for a similar bout of tailored mentorships and visual experimentation. At the end, the filmmakers launch their development titles at the MIFA market.
When directors Pierre Le Couviour and Amine El Ouarti brought their residency-honed title “Le Cœur à danser” to last year’s MIFA, they very quickly found an eager partner in French studio Vivement Lundi, teaming with the Rennes-based production house to develop the project even further. That extra work paid off, and when the World War I-set folktale returned to pitch at this year’s MIFA, the project broke out as a serious buzz title, inspiring immediate and ardent distributor attention before claiming two of the three top prizes for best feature pitch.
That’s just a single 2021 residency project.
When directors Pierre Le Couviour and Amine El Ouarti brought their residency-honed title “Le Cœur à danser” to last year’s MIFA, they very quickly found an eager partner in French studio Vivement Lundi, teaming with the Rennes-based production house to develop the project even further. That extra work paid off, and when the World War I-set folktale returned to pitch at this year’s MIFA, the project broke out as a serious buzz title, inspiring immediate and ardent distributor attention before claiming two of the three top prizes for best feature pitch.
That’s just a single 2021 residency project.
- 6/16/2022
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
DyE Fantasy Music Video. DyE’s Fantasy Music Video is directed Jérémie Périn. Fantasy‘s plot synopsis: “the video tells the story of a group of highschool kids ready for teenage mischief. They break into the local swimming pool intending a session of innocent nightswimming, in an awkward climate of romance and apprehension. What happens next is for you to discover here.”
I purposely used that header pic as not to give away what happens in this music video. Its a gross surprise. This music video is like a fusion of The Thing and Legend of the Overfiend (Chôjin densetsu Urotsukidôji). If the viewer has seen either or both, you know how this trip to the pool is going to turn out. Frak is this music video wrong but in every good way. This is what the new The Thing should be like: inventive, sick, and twisted.
DyE’s Fantasy...
I purposely used that header pic as not to give away what happens in this music video. Its a gross surprise. This music video is like a fusion of The Thing and Legend of the Overfiend (Chôjin densetsu Urotsukidôji). If the viewer has seen either or both, you know how this trip to the pool is going to turn out. Frak is this music video wrong but in every good way. This is what the new The Thing should be like: inventive, sick, and twisted.
DyE’s Fantasy...
- 10/24/2011
- by filmbook
- Film-Book
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