The Hyperboreans
Description
When the negative of a film she starred in disappears, an actor embarks on a quest to recover it, in the process butting up against Chilean history and the legacy of fascist thinker Miguel Serrano. Antonia Giesen plays a version of herself as an actor and psychologist who initially stole the missing film’s idea from her patient Metalhead’s dreams. That dream state infects her search as she transforms into a cop contending with ailing parents, Metalhead’s declining state, Chile’s fascist history, and amazing things that live beneath Antarctica’s ice. Filmmakers Joaquín Cociña and Cristóbal León appear as twisted version of themselves in this fantastically surreal and virtuoso blend of live action, animation, puppetry, and practical effects. —Pam Grady
Biographies
The Chilean artist duo Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña began collaborating in 2007, making experimental films that incorporate a variety of techniques, including live action, animation, and puppetry. Their latest short film, Los Huesos (2021), won the Venice Film Festival’s Venice Horizons Award and Sitges’s Critics’ Jury Prize. Their first feature, The Wolf House (2018), garnered the Jury Distinction Prize for Best Feature Film at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival. Among their recent work, the duo contributed animation to Ari Aster’s Beau Is Afraid (2023.)