NearShore Cinema: Fantastic Planet

On the planet Ygam, a humanoid species (Oms) are the playthings of their masters, the giant blue native inhabitants (Draags). When one of the Oms obtains a device that allows them to gain intelligence and decode the Draags’ communications, a resistance movement starts. Sui generis in the history of cinema, René Laloux’s dystopian tale of slavery, violence and resistance is joined by Rolan Topor’s truly sauvage visual language and Alain Goraguer’s score, which continues to mesmerise and inspire contemporary musicians.

La Planète Sauvage (1973) will be screened with Hot to Trot (1977), an animated short film created by Australian cartoonist Tony Edwards and developed from his cartoon series Captain Goodvibes that ran for eight years in the surf newspaper, Tracks, from 1973. Recently digitised, the film is held in the collection of National Film and Sound Archive.

Paris-based multidisciplinary artist gillielove will present a DJ set in response to Alain Goraguer’s score and the visual marvels of both films.

The NearShore Cinema screening will coincide with a new exhibition opening in the Wrecks Room, titled le soupir. Drawing on the La Perouse Museum collection, it is a sombre reflection on the ill-fated journey of Jean-François de Galaup, comte de Lapérouse. The space is known for its 1988 ceiling mural Le Dernier Soupir (The Last Sigh) by artist François Olivier Cosnefroy, commissioned by the Lapérouse Association that year to mark the Australian Bicentenary and the founding of the museum.

Friday 13 November 2026

5.30pm | Welcome performance by accordionist Philippe Wittwer

5.30-6.00pm | DJ set by gillielove

6.00-6.15pm | Speeches

7.00-7.15pm | French-language tour of exhibition le soupir

7.30pm | screening, Hot to Trot (1977), 5mins 30sec

7.36pm | screening, La Planète Sauvage / Fantastic Planet (1973), 72mins

9.00pm | event concludes

AV equipment and technical support provided by Sydney Metro AV