They Came From Outer Space: Fantastic Planet
September 20, 2023
A world of surreal beauty and strange creatures. On the distant planet Ygam, a fascinating tale unfolds as humanoid Oms revolt against their towering Draag overlords. This animated sci-fi gem is a captivating exploration of freedom, unity, and the power of imagination.
A SIFF and Cross-Faded Cinema presentation of Fantastic Planet with Seattle's own DJ NicFit will be shown on September 8.
Individual Tickets: Select showtime to purchase.
Passes: $100 | $75 SIFF Members - includes full series access
Nothing else has ever looked or felt like director René Laloux’s animated marvel Fantastic Planet, a politically minded and visually inventive work of science fiction. The film is set on a distant planet called Ygam, where enslaved humans (Oms) are the playthings of giant blue native inhabitants (Draags). After Terr, kept as a pet since infancy, escapes from his gigantic child captor, he is swept up by a band of radical fellow Oms who are resisting the Draags' oppression and violence. With its eerie, coolly surreal cutout animation by Roland Topor; brilliant psychedelic jazz score by Alain Goraguer; and wondrous creatures and landscapes, this Cannes-awarded 1973 counterculture classic is a perennially compelling statement against conformity and violence.
- Original Language Title: La Planète sauvage
- Director: René Laloux
- Country: France, Czechoslovakia
- Year: 1973
- Running Time: 72 min.
- Producer: Simon Damiani, André Valio-Cavaglione, Anatole Dauman
- Screenplay: René Laloux, Roland Topor, Stefan Wul
- Cinematographers: Boris Baromykin, Lubomir Rejthar
- Editors: Hélène Arnal, Marta Látalová, Dick Elliott, Rich Harrison
- Awards: Cannes Film Festival 1973 (Special Prize)
- Filmography: Gandahar (1987), Time Masters (Les Maîtres du Temps) (1982)
- Language: French
- US Distributor: Janus Films