Planet A

Synopsis

Salt: trace, absence of water, passage of time,invading epidemic, living cemetery.
Water: manoeuvre, absolute value, fertility, rhizomes, chance.
Cotton: corruption, economic issues, hydrophily, desertification.

The world has become a vast dried out planet, where the growing of cotton, over exploited for economical reasons is the main cause of desertification. A saline desert covers acres of dried out land where strange salt trees appear.
This phenomenon echoes an even greater ecological disaster, the desertification of the Aral Sea. And man is always responsible.

Statement

This film shows a worrisome, strange yet playful world composed only of salt crystal formations. The crystals’ physical beauty and their corrosive features create a curious antinomy which reminds us of a living, invading and dangerous creature.
I am interested in the « science-fiction » genre that uses pessimistic parabolas to evoke the world in which we live. Through the salt world, I would like to implicitly express the theme of desertification, which affects certain areas of the globe, which, like the Aral Sea, are victims of industrialization and excessive economy use.
Two very simple matters, salt and water, recreate a surrealist space and at the same time, suggest the possibility that this phantasmagoria can one day (if not already) be an irreversible reality.

Technical sheet

  • Format: video HD
  • Duration: 07’40 »
  • Year: 2008
  • Production: Le Fresnoy, Studio National des Arts Contemporains
  • Director: Momoko Seto
  • Shooting Format: Photos series
  • Projection Format: HD
  • Sound Format: Dolby SR
  • No dialogues.

Screening & Festivals

  • Panorama 9-10 [exhibition currator: Bernard Blistène], Toucoing [Fr], june-july 2008
  • 61st International FIlm Festival of Locarno, programmation Play Forward, Locarno [Ch], aug 6-16 2008
  • Festival International du Film Spot et du Film Court d’Environnement, Montpellier [Fr], sept 1-5 2008
  • St. Petersburg International Youth Film Festival, [Ru], oct 9-13 2008
  • Festival “Temps d’images” at la Ferme du Buisson, MARNE-LA-VALLEE [Fr], oct 10-19th 2008
  • 53rd Corona Cork Film Festival [Ir], oct 12-19 2008
  • Curtocircuito International Short Film Festival, Santiago de Compostela [Es], oct 17-24 2008
  • Cine Eco, 14th International Environmental Film and Video Festival of Serra da Estrela [Pg], oct 18-25 2008
  • 8th Festival Internacional de Escuelas de Cine, Buenos Aires [Ag], oct 20-25 2008
  • 15th INTERNATIONAL FILM AND TV SCHOOLS’ FESTIVAL MEDIASCHOOL, Lodz [Pl], oct 21-25 2008
  • 22nd Braunschweig Int’l Film Festival [De], nov 4-9 2008
  • FIRST FRAME 2008: International Students’ Film Festival, New Dehli [In], nov 5-6 2008
  • 12th International Short Film Festival Winterthur, Winterthur [Ch], nov 5-9 2008
  • 20th Internatıonal Istanbul Short Film Festival [Tk], nov 5-12 2008
  • 25th Kassel Documentary Film & Video Festival, Kasssel [De], nov 11-16 2008
  • Kinofest, International Digital Film Festival, Bucharest [Ro], nov 14-16 2008
  • Festival ArtCourtVidéO, Arles [Fr], nov 19-23 2008
  • 6th Festival International du Film d’Environnement, Paris [Fr], nov 19-25 2008
  • the International Short Film Festival Leuven [Be], nov 29-dec 6th 2008
  • 31st Rencontre Henri Langlois, Poitier [Fr], dec 05-10 2008
  • Asian Hot Shot Berlin, [De], jan 13-18 2009
  • Collective Screening @ Eiga bi gakkou (Tokyo Film School) jan 17th 2009
  • International Short Film Competition of the 22th Stuttgart Filmwinter, [De], jan 22-29 2009
  • 38th International Film Festival Rotterdam, [De], jan 21-fev 01 2009
  • Transmediale.09, Berlin [De], jan 28-fev 01 2009
  • 26ème Festival International du Premier Film d’Annonay [Fr], jan 30-fev 09 2009
  • Tricky Women Festival, Wien [At], march 5-9 2009
  • Tampere Film Festival [Fi], march 4-8 2009
  • VidéoFormes, Clermont Ferrand [Fr], march 11-29 2009
  • Festival du court-métrage de Limoges [Fr], march 11-15 2009
  • Forum des images, Paris [Fr], Selection of NEMO, april 2nd-5th 2009
  • Lille Art Fair [Fr], april 3-6th 2009
  • Un festival c’est trop court, Nice [Fr, april 14-19 2009
  • 5th Rencontres Audiovisuelles, la fête de l’animation, Lille [Fr], april 16-19 2009
  • The International Festival of Animated films AniFest 2009, Třeboň & Teplice [Cz], may 1-5, 7-10 2009
  • Festival Bandits-Mages, Bourges [Fr], may 10th 2009
  • Athens Video Art Festival, [Gr], may 14-17th 2009
  • Festival Internacional de Cine Ecológico y de la Naturaleza de Canarias [Es], may 16-23rd 2009
  • Festival du Développement Durable, Genève [Ch], june 6-7 2009
  • Le Festival de films d’animation Folie-Ô-Skop, Québec [Ca], june 11-12 2009
  • 19th Videofestival Bochum, [De], june 18-20 2009
  • FEST – International Film Festival, Espinho [Pt], june 20-28 2009
  • POOL/LOOP Rote Fabrik, Zurich [Ch], july 2-4 2009
  • Remixed Competition of the 17th Curtas Vila do Conde IFF, [Pt], july 4-12 2009
  • Festival international de l’image environnementale, des Rencontres d’Arles [Fr], july 7-12 2009
  • Programmes du Fresnoy au festival d’Hiver à Porto Alegre [Pt], july 27 – 2 aug 2009
  • Animation Festival @ ARS Electronica, Linz [At], 3-8 sept 2009
  • E-Festival, Shanghai [Cn], 10-13 sept 2009
  • Kota 2032 Film Festival, Skopje Republic of Macedonia, sept 14-20 2009
  • festival Kosmorama, Turku [Fi] sept 20th 2009
  • Nouveau Cinéma de Montréal, [Ca] oct 7-18th 2009
  • Leids Film Festival, Leiden [Nl] oct 27 – nov 1st 2009
  • 2nd International Festival of Cinema and Environment Zaragoza, ecoZine, [Es] nov 6-15 2009
  • Animated Dreams animation festival at the 13th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, Tallinn [Ee] nov 18-22nd 2009
  • colloque Géométrie et Images Numériques à la Gare Numérique de Jeumont, [Fr] (14/01-05/02, 2010)
  • l’exposition « Récurrences » organisée par l’espace d’art actuel Le Radar [Fr] fev 16-28 2010
  • Institut français de Tokyo, [Jp] march 2010
  • Oslo Screen Film Festival , [No] march 12-14 2010
  • 21es Rencontres Cinéma-Nature, Dompierre-sur-Besbre [Fr], march 27+28 2010
  • Vienna Independent Shorts [Au], may 27- june 2nd 2010
  • « Normandie Impressionniste » et « Les lumières vues par le numérique », Club Deauville [Fr], aug 08 2010
  • Article Biennale, Oslo [No], sept 15th-oct 15th 2010
  • Exposition « titre à venir » (commissaire Pascales Pronnier) QUT University, Brisbane [Australia], oct 15th-nov 8th 2010
  • collective exhibition at l’Espace d’Art de la société générale de Casablanca [Ma], dec 16th 2010- april 30th 2011
  • « Images en mouvement – Mumabox », Le Havre [Fr], march 16th 2011
  • « Waby Savvy » collective exhibition at JAUS organized by Torrance Art Museum, Los Angeles [USA], march 18th – may 1st 2011
  • La nuit numérique du LAM, Lille [fr], nov 15th 2011
  • Bibliothèque de la Part-Dieu, Lyon [fr], 18h30 nov 24th 2011
  • Festival tricky women « Creation of uncanny matter » at the Figurentheater LILARUM, Wien [au], march 15-17-23-24th 2012
  • Unrest, Hahanut gallery, Tel Aviv [is], may 1st 2012
  • Malestar, Casa de fefa, La Havana [cu], may 18th 2012
  • EcoCup film festival, Moscow [ru], may 18-20th 2012
  • Nuit blanche au Palais de Tokyo, Paris [fr], oct 6th 2012
  • Bushwick film festival, “Unrest” presented by Imagespassages, Brooklyn, NY [USA], oct 6th 2012
  • Timelapse Showfest, Pozuelo de Alarcón [es], oct 28th 2012
  • Oslo Central Station presented by Oslo Screen Festival [no], aug 2013
  • Rencontres Internationales Sciences et Cinémas, Marseille [fr], oct 10th-19th 2013
  • La Nuit blanche, Paris [fr], oct 3th 2015
  • L’hybride, Lille [fr], oct 9th 2015
  • FIAC Grand Palais, Paris [fr], oct 22nd 2015
  • Mori Art Museum, exhibition « The Universe and Art » Tokyo [jp], july 30th 2016 – jan 9th 2017
  • OW & AFTER, International Video Art Festival – Moscow [Ru], oct 22-29th 2016
  • Exhibition « Universe and Art » at ArtScience Museum, Singapore, April 1st – July 31th 2017
  • Exhibition HORTUS 2.0, Avignon [Fr], June 1st – aug 27th 2017
  • Exhibition « Le rêve des formes » at the Palais de Tokyo, Paris [Fr], 9-14th aug 2017
  • Platforme web de Beaux-Arts Magazine, aug 2017
  • Screening at Eac Les Roches for the exhibition Charlotte Charbonnel, Chambon-sur-Lignon [Fr], aug 8th 2017
  • Serie Mania Lille [Fr], April 27th – May 5th 2018
  • Collective exhibition for « Paysage-Fiction » at Tétris for « un Été au Havre » [Fr], June 23 – setp 3 2018
  • Journées du patrimoine in Nice au Musée d’Art Moderne et d’Art contemporain de Nice, [Fr], sept 15th 2018
  • Journées du patrimoine by EDIS in Avignon / Aredenome grenier à sel, [Fr], sept 15th 2018
  • La journée Talents en courts du Festival International du Court Métrage de Lille, [Fr], sept 22nd 2018
  • Collective exhibition for « Paysage-Fiction » at Bel Ordinaire, for the 18th edition of Festival accès)s(, Pau [Fr], oct 11th – dec 8th 2018
  • Masterclass at Anifilm, International Festival of Animated Films, Liberec [CZ], June 26th 2021

Awards

  • Tampere Film Festival, 2009: Diploma of Merit
  • Oslo Screen Film Festival, 2010: Grand Prix

TV diffusion

  • NHK program « Degista », dec 2008, jan 2009
  • ARTE, Metropolis, jan 24 2009
  • Souvenir From Earth, FreeTV, French/Gremany

DVD Released

  • transmediale.09 – video selection
  • Fôlie ô Skop, international selection, Québec
  • ANIMATION AVANTGARDE – DVD 01, Wien 2012

Distribution

  • Agence du court-métrage, Paris [Fr]
  • HeureExquise! Lille [Fr]
  • Le Fresnoy, Studio National, Tourcoing [Fr]