The beauty of the universe lends itself naturally to creativity and the imagination, and there is a new short film which illustrates that very eloquently.
The film, Stardust, is based on the Voyager 1 spacecraft as it continues to explore the outer system and then beyond. Just recently posted on Vimeo, the film generally depicts the universe as seen from the probe’s point of view, a place of both beauty and destruction. It utilizes both real and CGI imagery to illustrate its story, taking the viewer to places they normally would never be able to go to, such as standing on the surface of the Sun or witnessing the birth of a new star.
According to writer and director Mischa Rozema, “I wanted to show the universe as a beautiful but also destructive place. It’s somewhere we all have to find our place within. As a director, making Stardust was a very personal experience but it’s not intended to be a personal film and I would want people to attach their own meanings to the film so that they can also find comfort based on their own histories and lives.”
The film reminds us that we are essentially stardust ourselves, our solar system and our planet having been born out of the gas and dust remaining from the deaths of other stars before it. The universe is a place of both beauty and destruction, of life and death, in a natural, ongoing cycle of change.
This article was first published on Examiner.com.