A mere 100 years from now, the world is not how we know it anymore. Following a devastating global war, human civilization is nearly extinct.
All scientific and technological knowledge has been lost, and the Earth is now overrun by religious fanatics and sects. Juna is a young rebel who was once part of the ruling religious order. She pays for her betrayal with her own life. However, she’s not exactly dead. Juna wakes up millions of light-years away from Earth in a different part of the universe. As she comes to accept her disposition in a new, unknown and frightening place, Juna discovers she’s not alone. Her previous beliefs and convictions come under scrutiny as she faces off a mysterious life form – the Omkai.
Inspired by the mystery of “Lost” and “Cube”, pushed by the visual legacy of H.P Lovecraft and H.R Giger, and influenced by the character development of “Evangelion”, Juna’s universe is a dark and conflicted place. Yet, there’s deep beauty among the uncanniness. Red beams of alien suns wrap warmly around weird turquoise landscapes, fueling life and biodiversity in what otherwise feels like purgatory for our characters.
“What excites me the most about combining sci-fi genre and full CGI technology is that it allows pushing the boundaries of creativity and imagination. With The Seed of Juna, I wanted to lay ground as vast as a universe to create a twisted reality that provokes the characters to raise deep questions, such as what is the humans’ role within the universe and whether we are as special as we might believe. My goal though is not to offer answers to these questions but to let the audience explore those through the stories of the characters presented from the new visual and fictional angles.
I’m strongly motivated by the possibilities that modern computer graphics technology provides. Anyone with a bit of persistence and creativity can now construct an immersive visual story from their homes. I’ve been hugely inspired and honored to have been joined by over 20 professionals from across the film, VFX and video-games industries who came together in a virtual team to push and evolve The Seed of Juna over the last 4 years.
It’s incredible to see what can happen when a few stubborn people with technical and creative skills get behind an ambitious idea. I hope that what the team has done would inspire others to at least consider filmmaking as a way to express their creativity and share the ideas with the world – for now, one can build universes and stories that can perfectly frame idea one tends to articulate.”
The Seed of Juna is created and directed by an independent filmmaker and VFX artist Álvaro García Martinez. Álvaro grew up in Madrid and developed a passion for animation and filmmaking from an early age. He officially kicked off his career in 2010 as a 3D generalist. In 2014, Álvaro directed and produced a short animated film SUMER, which swept a number of selections and awards within the festival circuit, including an official selection at the Academy-qualifying Cleveland Film Festival.
As a VFX artist, Álvaro has worked with a number of top facilities, including MPC and ILM, where he developed visual effects for a number of box office successes, such as The Jungle Book, Ready Player One, Avengers, and Pacific Rim. More recently, Álvaro has been leading real-time solutions for Dneg and sharing his knowledge and passion for innovative technologies in filmmaking through a personal educational project. In his work, Álvaro uses the sci-fi genre to create stories, which take the audience on a visually and emotionally captivating journey in exploring human relationships with themselves and others.
INFORMATION
Created by Álvaro García
Music by John Koutselinis
Sound by Noiseworks
Concept Art and Production Design by
Jesús Conde • Rodrigo Aguirre Llasera
Produced by Álvaro García Martínez • Natasha Maksimenko
Main cast
JUNA Laura Garnier
ADRIEL AND OKNA Dean Michael Gregory
ADRIEL’S VOICE David L. Stricklan
VFX Crew
Aloke Sarkar • Alex Álvarez • Alex Fernandez Pons • Arnaud Mavoka-Isana • Iván López • Eva Barchino • Rubén Díaz Hernandez • Laura Millar • Jack Brown • Chris Jestico • Fabian Nowak • Eleanor Jackson • Brian Miguel Insua • Miguel Macaya Sound Byron Bullock • David Philipp • Jack Webber • Matteo Lupieri • Fred Pearson • Lorenzo Piani
All images with courtesy of Álvaro García Martinez
