Susan Lim & Christina Teenz Tan & Samudra Kajal Saikia

Singapure

1. Your film is entered in our Cannes Film Awards. What is your film about?

We are ecstatic to share our film which is a part of the full animation of Alan the Musical, which was staged at the UCLA School of Theater. This film is about the future of companionship and the way in which humans and artificially intelligent lifeforms (called inanimates) will interact in the future. Our story is centered around a young scientist who transforms her beloved childhood plush toy into a sentient, artificially intelligent companion.

2. What are your ambitions with your project?

We have developed our story as a musical production and completed a staged reading at the UCLA School of Theater. However, when the pandemic struck, we pivoted to explore other creative outlets including this animation! Through this film our team hopes to artistically explore the future of human companionship with artificially intelligent lifeforms, as well as fascinating scientific concepts such as teleportation, all in a musical context.

3. For what target group is your film?

We hope to garner interest from people of all ages and engage them in this exciting discussion about the future of AI and novel technologies. Our animation features many dynamic characters, sci-fi elements, a beautiful orchestral score recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, pianist Tedd Joselson as well as the London Voices at Abbey Road Studios in London!


4. Why should distributors buy your film?

As scientists, doctors and musicians, we have written a story surrounding important issues that face society today. We want to spread the message that the future of companionship between human and inanimate is here! Whether these inanimates are artificially intelligent devices or robots, they play important roles in our lives and we hope to start a global conversation on this topic through music and film.

5. How would you specify your work?

Our film is an original, imaginative & futuristic story about the future of companionship between human and inanimate.


6. Why did you decide to become a filmmaker?

It comes from a passion for communicating scientific concepts such a the future of artificial intelligence & robotics through familiar artforms such as music and animation. My first project was the Fantasy of Companionship between Human and Inanimate. Our team feels that cinema can bring bold new ideas to the fore, and we hope to start a global conversation about the future of companionship enabled through AI. It has been a wonderful privilege to be a part of the musical team!

7. Which movies are your favorites?

A current favorite is the vibrant and original musical film adaptation In the Heights by Lin-Manuel Miranda!

8. Which topics interest you the most?

Science, technology, artificial intelligence and space travel, and these topics have influenced our style and creativity in this animation!


9. What do you consider most important about filming?

In our films and animation, we communicate complex scientific and technical concepts. When writing one of our tracks “Teleportation” we felt it was important to delve thoroughly into the realm of physics and in fact scoured through literature in the field of quantum teleportation. We wanted to have a deep understanding of this concept to guide our artistic portrayal.

10. What are the reactions of your surroundings to your film?

The animation and orchestral score may be enjoyed as unique stand-alone pieces, but when put together they really complement each other well and make for a fantastic film!

11. What festivals have you won?

We have two animated shorts in film festivals with different styles, “Boy Scientist” a music video and the “Fantasy of Companionship between Human and Inanimate” a short film. These are both multi-award-winning shorts and we feel very grateful for the recognition by film festivals in the US, UK and Europe. Most recently, we were mentioned in the New York Times for “Boy Scientist”, which was recommended in the Weekend Section “5 things to do this weekend: Cinema treats, short, often sweet "!

12. What are your next projects?

We are proud to announce that we recently released our maiden album, the Lim Fantasy of Companionship for Piano and Orchestra, on the Signum record label in April 2021. It comprises 21 tracks, one of which is titled “Ode to ALAN”, from which our animated short “Ode to an Inanimate Companion” draws inspiration. We are currently working on a fantastic new project titled “Cosmic Rhapsody” which explores the future of companionship in space and the need to explore the beyond, driven by the pressing issue of climate change.

Here is a link to the trailer: https://vimeo.com/561222773 

Here is the imdb links to the directors

Here are our social media links