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AI has become a bit of a boogeyman in film discussions, as many have grown concerned over its impact on the movie industry and the potential for generative AI to supplant real human art. However, not all AI is generative, and machine learning technology has quickly become a vital tool for many filmmakers to realize their visions.

At the IndieWire Studio at Sundance on January 24, Dropbox held a panel conversation called “How Technology Widens Our Storytelling Lens,” to discuss how technology and AI can unlock new ways to tell stories for filmmakers. Moderator Effie Brown spoke to the teams behind “Move Ya Body: The Birth of House” and “Luz,” both of which premiered at the Park City, Utah film festival. In attendance were Elegance Bratton and Chester Algernal Gordon, director and producer of “Move Ya Body,” as well as Flora Lau and Yvette Tang, director and producer of “Luz.”

“Move Ya Body,...

With an evocative opening-credits sequence as the camera swirls through a virtual landscape of neon signs and lights, one might think they are witnessing the beginning of the next Gaspar Noé film. Thankfully what follows in Flora Lau’s second feature Luz is less puerile and exasperating than the work of that enfant terrible, but it could use an inkling more bite. A mood piece above all else, the emotionally detached drama follows two disparate, vaguely connected stories of alienated individuals adrift in a world consumed by technology that may in fact be the only path toward healing.

We’re first introduced to Wei (Xiao Dong Guo), an ex-convict working as the heavy for a nightclub owner in the bustling, neon-soaked city of Chongqing, his only real connection seemingly with cam girl Fa (En Xi Deng), with whom he just wants to have a conversation. When he reveals that she’s his estranged daughter,...

Park City – A sporadically interesting though ultimately superficial exploration of online connection, video games, and modern alienation, writer-director Flora Lau’s “Luz” is a film in search of something greater than it is never quite able to grab hold of. It boasts some striking visuals here and there, such as the mythical deer that roams through its digital world, though it squanders them in what proves to be an empty execution lacking in more impactful emotion.

Continue reading ‘Luz’ Review: Isabelle Huppert Gets Lost In Flora Lau’s Video Game World [Sundance] at The Playlist.

Unbothered, Isabelle Huppert vapes while wearing a chic dress after a night out in Paris. The actress’ requisite ferocious grace this time is lent to Sabine, an ailing French artist who refuses to waste her final days bedridden. But she is only one of the four pieces that conform “Luz,” Flora Lau’s alluring narrative diptych on familial disconnection that moves between the French capital, the Chinese city of Chongqing and an interstitial realm of virtual reality, where her characters are meant to find common ground. The geographical divide between the two distinct storylines is bridged via the implementation of this space.

From the opening credits (the names of those involved appear as spinning neon signs floating) propelled by Mimi Xu’s propulsive score, Lau announces the visual originality she’s after, mining Chongqing’s fluorescent architecture to create dazzling, otherworldly frames. And there’s mesmerizing imagery galore in “Luz...

The Sundance Film Festival, held annually in Park City, Utah, is the perfect way to kick off the new cinematic year. The festival helps elevate the platform of some of the most exciting and fresh voices of independent cinema, such as Flora Lau, the writer-director behind the bold sci-fi drama Luz, a bifurcated story about a man's search for his daughter in Chongqing and a woman's relationship with her stepmother in Paris, as their lives collide in a virtual reality world. Along the way, a mystical deer reveals hidden truths, sparking a journey of discovery and connection. The film stars Isabelle Huppert, Sandrine Pinna, and Xiaodong Guo.

The risk of an ambitious experiment like Luz, which is part continent-hopping thriller, part Fortnite-style video game, is that the latter eventually becomes more captivating than the former. And while this doesn’t totally happen in writer-director Flora Lau’s intriguing second feature, the real-life part of the movie never quite convinces, making us further appreciate the artistry of everything occurring online.

Premiering at Sundance, the film constantly shifts between reality and virtual reality, as well as between China and France, as it follows a handful of characters looking for connection in a world that increasingly alienates them. If the multiplayer plot doesn’t exactly catch fire, the mesmerizing images foster an immersive experience — one that, ironically enough, would probably play best on the big screen.

Set partly in the LED-lit nightscapes of Chongquing, partly in a gray and neutral Paris and partly in the titular VR game, Luz...