Lucy Liu and Morgan Spector voice the leads in “Moonfish,” a black-and-white animated film by first-time director Daniel Zvereff. The film, which premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 6 after receiving a grant from Biennale College Cinema, explores themes of isolation and corporate control through the story of two astronauts on a lunar mission.
For Liu, participating in the independently made film was a way to support emerging filmmakers. “These are the people that are not just the creatives, but the ones who are going to be the future,” she said. “I’m just fascinated by how people work and how things start when there’s not all this red tape.”
The film follows astronauts voiced by Liu and “The Gilded Age” star Morgan Spector, who are tasked with meeting a corporate quota to earn their return from a mission to the moon. Zvereff designed the 2D animation to be something he could complete independently, eventually collaborating with animators Hoss Wheeler and Devin Grover over nine months. Zvereff explained his artistic approach, stating, “When I watch 2D-animated films, I feel like I’m being exposed to the subconscious of that artist.” Liu noted the craftsmanship, saying, “It’s amazing what digital has done for the speed of animation but you can really feel the appreciation and the craftsmanship [here]. There is a tenderness and an imperfection that I appreciate.”
Spector, new to voice acting for animation, described the challenge of portraying his character’s descent into madness. He also detailed the worldbuilding, explaining, “This particular class of people has come to live on the moon, and they’ve evolved, essentially, as moon people. But they’ve also evolved as an underclass; they are the group of people without rights, assets or any real hope for the future.” Liu also voices a talking fish, a character Zvereff likened to a miner’s canary.
According to Spector, Zvereff’s vision depicts a future where “the relationship between human beings and their tools has been totally inverted. The corporation has merged with the computer in a sort of perfect authoritarian machine that uses human beings as fodder, basically.” He added, “It’s a vision of the world that feels continuous with the one we live in.” While the film deals with isolation, Zvereff ultimately wanted to create a positive message about humanity’s future, a realization that came during the writing process.
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