Among the various UK Premieres at this year’s Leeds International Film Festival is Niles Atallah’s third full-length feature, Animalia Paradoxa. Atallah’s first two features, Lucía (2010) and Rey (2017) show he is no stranger to surrealism and Animalia Paradoxa is a deep dive into even stranger waters.
The plot of this film is difficult to summarise, therefore fewer words would be better. The LIFF website describes the film, ‘In a post-apocalyptic world, Animalia, a mutant creature, wanders through the ruins of a city. To survive it requires immersion in water, but the sea is out of reach’.
The film opens with a montage of mushroom clouds and global disasters played out on reel to reel film, controlled by the hand of a puppet. It is never explained what has happened to this world but what we can see are various environments covered in debris and rubble.
Inspired by Carl Linnaeus’, Systema Naturae (1758), many of the creatures that live in this world are some kind of human-hybrid. The motivations of these creatures are never fully explained, but what we do know is that our protagonist, Animalia, dreams of the ocean and is in constant search for water, which she can use to fill her bath.
With little to no dialogue, much of the film is carried by the music production and sound design. Choral synths used to dramatic effect and twinkling xylophones create a childlike sense of wonder and curiosity both of which make this film a thoroughly enjoyable affair.
Likewise, the visuals such as black and white montages of waves and sea life serve as expressionist paintings that metamorphose the longer they hang around on screen. They resemble a similar style that can be found in soviet-cinema like Andrei Tarkovsky’s Solaris (1972) and Andrzej Żuławski’s On The Silver Globe (1988).
On the surface, Animalia Paradoxa, is the story of struggle in the face of adversity. Thinking slightly deeper, we can see just how difficult it can be to give up the things we trust in order to find what we desire.
Flicking between a semi-logical piece of performance art to an avant garde animation composed of puppetry and montage, Atallah has created a film that is both visually intriguing and philosophically thought provoking.
The next showing for Animalia Paradoxa is November 8th at Everyman and tickets can be purchased through the Leeds International Film Festival website. The festival is running from November 1 – 17. For more up to date coverage be sure to follow Screensphere on X and Instagram.
Article originally published 06/11/2024 on Screensphere and can be found here.
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