There is no original truth, only original error. Gaston Bachelard

Two guys dressed in First Empire costumes meet at a Parisian café for an afternoon tea. Their conversation will hold the answers to some of humanity's existential conundrums, and yet, it will most likely go unnoticed.
Protoplastos [The Genesis of Species] is a satirical comedy on the mysteries of existence

a film by Irene DE LUCAS

France / Italia, Spain, 2014, short narrative, 20 mins, Comedy / Science fiction

starring Peter Hudson, Alex Freeman, Stana Roumillac

Year of production: 2014
Type: short narrative
Countries: France / Italia, Spain
Languages : French, English
Color: Color
Runtime: 19 minutes 36 seconds (20 min)
Original Title: "Protoplastos: The Genesis of Species"
Filming Locations: Paris, France
Genres: Comedy, Sci-fi
Completion Date: July 1, 2015
Production Budget: 7,000 EUR
Country of Origin: Spain
Country of Filming: France
Language: English
Shooting Format: RED
Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Film Color: Color
First-time Filmmaker: No
Student Project: No


Director Statement
The nature of the film's script being so theatrical -a single location, two characters that will be seated the whole time and the plot solely contained in the dialogue itself- the real challenge in this film was its visual approach; and it entitled a reflection on the very nature of cinema versus theatre.

In order to justify why such a script should be filmed instead of staged, its visual treatment had to provide a different layer of meaning to the film. It would have been futile and redundant, not to mention tedious, to limit the visual dimension of the film merely to portray their conversation from a closer stance or even a myriad camera angles, hoping to only entertain the viewer while renouncing to impact on the film's overall meaning and ideas. Therefore, I resolved to tackle the visual and sound dimension of the film as a new layer of significance to the plot, once differentiated from the purpose of the actual content of the dialogue, the sound and images would serve an ambivalent purpose of both contrast and completion, thus, oscillating between confronting at times the ideas of the dialogue they contained, and at others, introducing a complementary and expansive view of these in order to reframe them under a different perspective that can arise further reflections.

The dialogue itself established a unidirectional information pattern. It portrays our creators reflecting on us, their creations, but also on the process itself, the outcome, the mistakes, just as we would reflect upon our own human-bound creations; by doing so, it answers the viewer's existencial doubts focusing during most of the plot primarily on the influence they have had on us. The images and sound, however, will convey the impact we, and our own creations, have on them, reflecting on how contact with its own creation may influence and move the creator itself.

The dialogue of our main characters will be constantly interrupted by the interaction with their surroundings, their temporarily inhabited human form presents them with sensations they had never experienced before. The scent of a flower, the joy of kicking a random ball, loneliness, grief, how it feels to burst into laughter or to be suddenly moved by something they may had never heard before, music. Regardless of their dialogue, we will see them infer the consequences of their once trivial decisions on our lives, they will feel our pain, beauty, and Nature, that which they created and yet, like us, evolved without them. The visual dimension portrays how they will experience what it is to be us, while reflecting about us.

Other times, these interactions will challenge their own beliefs and statements about us. They think we are unhappy, but we hear people laugh in the background, they say we want to know, but nobody seems to be listening to their revelations. Their dialogue is filled with criticisms, but we can see they are awed by the extent of our abilities, humbled not even by us, but by our own creations. The infinite aspects in which they differentiate from us, will be overtaken by the terrible recognition of themselves in us, we are but the synthesis of them, their worst attempt at bettering themselves, at creating something far more complex and meaningful than what they really are.

This frustration they inadvertently carry with them, disguised as despise, irreverence, compassion or indifference all throughout their dialogue, will evolve solely in response to the events portrayed by the visual and sound dimension of the film. The change that will operate in them is only comprehensible through it. It is precisely the interaction with their surroundings, with their creations, that will alter their beliefs and initial plan, unveiling their inner creator's crisis. A crisis that will reach its climax in its attempt to reveal the truth and perhaps regain some control over the process. A nonetheless failed attempt to redeem themselves, not so much by conveying meaning to our existence, but rather to their act of creation.

Director: Irene de Lucas

CAST
Peter Hudson................. Ikij
Alex Freeman................. Wuyt
Stana Roumillac............. Unhappy Girlfriend
Frédéric Karim Slama... Unhappy Boyfriend
Tiffany Chenet... Woman with Neck Pain
Arsène Fert... Rude French Passerby
Nicola Ciammarughi... The Reader
Nicolas Chedaille... Stumbling Man
Guillaume Koenig... Waiter

Produced by
Luisa Chornet... producer
Ignacio de Lucas... executive producer
Irene de Lucas... producer
Sarah Keenan... executive producer

Music by Juan Ignacio Machi
Cinematography by Maxence Muller
Film Editing by Irene de Lucas
Casting By Carlos Galán
Production Design by Noémie de Rasilly
Costume Design by Camille Prat
Makeup Department
Hair stylist / makeup artist... Julie Soude

Fernanda Castro... production manager
Tiphaine Viron... assistant director
Marie Zoubian... second assistant director
Santiago Ortega Antunez... boom operator / sound mixer
Eric Grattepain... foley artist
Alix Ploquin... sound editor
Guillaume Schmitter... colorist
Alice Bencteux... best boy
Rodolphe de Quay... assistant camera
Camille Gaborit... assistant camera
Benoît Gallet... grip
Clément Hervouet... key grip
Victor Memain... gaffer
Maxence Muller... camera operator
Adrien Pellegrini... grip
Alberto Gorrochategi Blanco... animator
Alberto Gorrochategui... musician
Juan Ignacio Machi... musician
Maud Giraudo... continuity
Ludovic Baldet... production assistant
Livio Ciccio... production assistant
Noémie de Rasilly... production coordinator
Alba Ferreras... production assistant
Sofiane Gaabout... production assistant
Dan Peirce... scholar consultant
Nacho Ruipérez... graphic designer