SNW Luminary Paris Residency

<p>After the sixth great extinction, humans lost their connection to nature, roaming through the ruins of past civilizations. The survivors became nomads, hiding in temporary settlements erected in what remains of the forests. A lone wanderer deciphers cryptic messages delivered by someone unseen within a forbidden landscape shaped by lost memories. Hers, the land&rsquo;s, or something else&rsquo;s.</p>

<p>Inspired by the surrealist method of exquisite corpse, this experimental film unravels the story of a Harris mud crab found perfectly preserved on the Baltic Sea shore&mdash;a creature alien to these waters until its arrival in Estonia in 2011. The crab&rsquo;s journey, likely via ballast water across the Atlantic, is the entry point into a layered exploration of invasive species, their role in disrupted ecosystems, and the philosophical questions they raise about human values and environmental change. The film draws from the work of Jean Painlev&eacute; and his approach to scientific film as a form of fiction, blending surrealism with science. Its structure mirrors the fragmented, collaborative nature of an exquisite corpse, with narratives interwoven by scientists, museum workers, and educators. Together, they explore the crab&rsquo;s story, the complexities of invasiveness, and the broader human-nature relationship.</p>

<p>Between Lines and Light is an experimental animation project that explores the interplay between structure and imagination, inspired by the rich cultural and architectural textures of Paris. Using laser etching on black film leader, the work transforms simple geometric patterns into surreal, otherworldly landscapes, blurring the boundaries between abstraction and narrative. This film is a meditation on transformation, exploring themes of chaos and order, reality and fantasy, and the passage between the seen and the unseen. Through tactile animation techniques, the project invites viewers into a world where lines illuminate, and light reveals the spaces in between.</p>