MOAIS (2022)
Part I: The Lithic Curtain
Beyond neon light flooded streets of a pulsating metropolis, hidden from the human eye in a remote urban backyard, only reachable through forgotten pathways, a secret city arises: MOAIS.
ZAK, a worn-out writer and former Daily Moais journalist, wakes up hung-over with serious data loss from the night before.
All that he remembers is having an unsettling dream. His writer’s block doesn’t help, so he follows his his dazed bionic intuition into the disreputable districts of a city, in which dream and reality tend to merge into one big cluster fuck.
MOAIS is a futuristic Neo-Noir animation and a humorous bow to genre defining Neo-Noir science fiction cinema like Metropolis, Blade Runner, Dark City, 1984 and honors pioneer graphic artists and visual futurists like Jean Giraud „Mœbius“ (The Long Tomorrow) and Syd Mead (Blade Runner). It also quotes from other ground-breaking science fiction films like 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Matrix, Dune, Alien, as well as from the classic Film Noir era movies.
Film poster. Design by Joerg Steineck.
Starring: Chris Cockrell • Justine Electra • Sean Wheeler • Bobby Furst • Caspar Von DJ • Jon Hall • Sam Sanchez • Damon Garrison • Robbi Robb • Nick Oliveri
Music by: Carlos Ebelhäuser, Fever Dog, Cyto Pop
Story, cinematography, animation, design, edit: Joerg Steineck / additional prop/costume design: Julia Stone / additional digital animation: Thomas Lehmann / additional graphic design: Christian Maciejewski
Genre: animation, puppetry, drama / running time: 40 mins / Year: 2021 © Steineck Films / I’m Filming Productions (2023)