REPLIKA (2015) by Swiss filmmaker Luc Walpoth held its North American premiere at the 2015 Palm Springs Shortfest.

"When humanity turns functional, the heart of machines beats louder."

Summary: In 2061, following a virus that decimated half of the world’s population, humans are compelled to take a daily vaccine making them sterile. To cope with their incapacity to give life, couples buy young androids who grow up with them. Amy, a loving mother is forced to terminate her only daughter, a dysfunctional 13- year-old android. Deeply affected by this emotional void, she loses track of the reality she lives in. Her husband Christopher desperately tries to comfort her but Amy’s craving for motherhood pushes her to take in Sophie, a wandering, flesh and bone gutter kid. When Chris finds out, a violent clash follows, forcing Amy to choose between the child and her husband.

In a recent interview with director Luc Walpoth, here is what he had to say about REPLIKA.

Your world in 2061 is a one operated by machines where humakind are outnumbered by their own creation. Do you think that we are slowly losing our humanity with the further dependence on machines?

LUC: Yes and no. We have to be careful with how we handle our inter-dependence with machines to not become slaves of them. But at the same time I see it as a natural evolution of humankind. I believe that in a few years, we will have integrated the machines in our life (and in our bodies) so much that they will be part of our humanity. The big question now is the ethical question. I’m sure that the machines will take an even more important place in a near future with nanotech and Artificial Intelligence, but we have to address now the questions, how we want our future to look like.

You have touched on a subject many of the greatest filmmakers have touched on (Kubrik for 2001, Scott for Blade Runner) where the machines people have built take on human qualities. Do you think that if humans can act like machines then perhaps machines might have some human qualities?

LUC: The figure of the robot in science fiction was always a way for storytellers to put a mirror in front of the audience and in a way simplify the human complexity to stress a point about our society. I believe that machines and humans have a different nature. And even if they will surpass us in many fields very soon, they will not reproduce some fundamental instincts and imperfections (i.e. fear, superstition and dreams). Currently, I’m more interested in the fusion, than in the competition between humans and machines.

You make your character choose between romantic love and maternal love. Do you think that one kind of love is more impossible to live without?

LUC: Tough question. I’m not a mother, nor a father, yet. For me the point was more to underline the problem of sterility. It’s a very difficult problem for a couple, and it can destroy a relationship. I had many friends, as I was writing the film who were struggling to make a child. The premise of the film is also based on a close family experience. I think it’s one of the most terrible things to lose a child. So I thought, what if the child is a machine?

Your film looks like a very high quality high budget Sci-fi. Was the budget very high to make this? Do you think you will turn this into a feature?

LUC: We had a big budget, but not enough and had the chance to have a Swiss post-production house that entered in co-production to finish the movie. I’m currently writing the feature version and have already some producers in L.A. who are interested in developing the project.

What was your experience at PSSFF and how were the responses to this film?

LUC: PSISF is a great film festival. I met so many talented and open filmmakers and I would recommend to everybody to go to the festival. The program (Tech-No-Logic) in which Replika was screened was of very high quality and all the films had in common the relation between humans and machines, which is a very actual thematic. The cinema room was full, and the public was very curious about our inspirations and the technique behind the film. It was a beautiful screening for me.

What are your plans next for this film and for future projects?

LUC: I’m working on different projects at the moment. I’m writing three features and developing a short project in VR. But my priority is to move back in L.A. to push the feature version of Replika.

Bio-Filmography of Luc Walpoth: Luc Walpoth is a Swiss filmmaker living between Bern, Turin, and Geneva where Turbulence Films, his production company, is based. After his studies at EICAR in Paris, he shot, directed and/or produced commercials, documentaries, short and feature films. His preview short film, INVISIBLE TRAJECTORIES, premiered in international competition at the 33rd Festival du court-métrage de Clermont-Ferrand in 2011. Since that, the film has been selected in various international festivals, broadcasted in Europe and won six awards. In 2014, Luc has been selected at “Story Matter”, the first international Tribeca Hack where he developed the short film PETER’S BUBBLE, a prototype of peer-to-peer storytelling platform. He is also part of the “Torino Film Lab” in the section “Adapt Lab” and in 2015 completed the UCLA Screenwriting Professional Program in Los Angeles.

View trailer here: 

View REPLIKA websites here:

Interview by Vanessa McMahon