LAÄHNA Productions (2019) is the result of editor Baptiste AUDOUIN meets makeup and FX artist Maya VISSCHER, meets producer Valentine GUIOT.

Motivated by a common interest in experimenting new materials and narratives, they decided to put together a production oriented collective centered on cinematographic stop motion techniques.

This year, they’ll be directing two short films! Below the Surface, a spark (“Sous la Surface, uneétincelle” original title) by Maya VISSCHER, and The Light Devourer (“Le Dévore Lumière”) by Baptiste AUDOUIN. Two very different projects yet in it together. We/They chose to pool their search for financial donors under the name LAÄHNA. This collective also enables us/them to help each other out… Be it on the visual modeling, screenwriting, or even just a supportive pat on the back!

In short

A moonlit lake. An abandoned world. A deafeningly silent village of fishermen. Silver teardrops. And, below the sleepy waters, a spark of life…

Word from the directress

It’s all about a universe that came to me. A world where all live forms would have vanished. I had a very intriguing vision of a decaying village made of stilt houses, and this village made me want to tell its story. It’ll therefore speak with its visuals, and not with words. I feed on colors, lights. I love colorful, tornado like mashups, red splashes and blue horizons… It’s when I think about all that that I can actually make this short film.

I’d like to create a treat the eyes can suck on. Not only the eyes, but also the ears. Music is one of the art forms that overwhelms me most. It makes me see landscapes, and stories. That’s why it’ll have a sort of supremacy in this film. I want both visual and audible universes to dialogue, seek each other out and create something even more beautiful together. I’m writing visual and musical poetry centered on this small spark of light hidden in desolation. You just have to free it for it to come out to the surface and spread its light around and above us.

In short

Despite all his attempts, Elliott cannot get does not manage to communicate with his father Charles. To reach his goal Elliott is ready to drag his father into his own world. Carried into a dream-like adventure, Charles will have to confront his past to find his son's light again.

Word from the director

The Light Devourer is the opportunity for me to talk about some psychological issues that I believe matter. And what better way than animation to physically express bottled and forgotten emotions?

Stop motion technique is the right balance between anime and cinema, it’s the opportunity to create a dreamy universe, all the while working with photography – a discipline I very much enjoy. It’s about breaking boundaries through mixing different art forms, and building a huge medieval library surrounded by darkness if we want to!

This initiative is also the chance to experiment. I aspire to mix – in a short time span – aesthetics, stop motion techniques, live action and cartoon work!

The Light Devourer is about 3 different adventures: the characters’ trip, our own path-building to make this project come to life, and last but not least: your own, if you choose to join us in its making!