POVs from the other side: Google DeepMind and Aronofsky’s AI film visualizes the impossible

Darren Aronofsky has unveiled “Ancestra,” the first short film from his new partnership with Google DeepMind to create generative AI-powered cinema. The 8-minute film, directed by Eliza McNitt and premiering at the Tribeca Festival, uses AI to visualize previously impossible narratives, including sequences inside a woman’s womb inspired by McNitt’s own life-threatening birth complications.

What you should know: “Ancestra” represents a groundbreaking fusion of traditional filmmaking and generative AI technology, involving over 200 artists and technologists.

• McNitt trained AI models on her own baby pictures and family photos taken by her late father to generate a newborn infant whose story mirrors her own biography.
• The film combines live-action sequences with AI-generated visuals that take viewers inside the womb, addressing pregnancy challenges rarely depicted in traditional storytelling.
• The project emerged from McNitt’s personal experience with a hole in her heart discovered during birth, transforming “personal family archives into a visually stunning experience.”

The bigger picture: This film launches Aronofsky’s Primordial Soup venture, which aims to establish frameworks for AI’s role in filmmaking while keeping artists in control of technological innovation.

• The partnership between Aronofsky and Google DeepMind will produce three total shorts that combine “new tech and storytelling.”
• Two additional films are planned that will explore new applications of Veo, Google DeepMind’s video generation model, though their directors haven’t been announced.

Who else is involved: McNitt brings significant experience in immersive storytelling to the collaboration.

• She previously created “Spheres,” a three-part VR series executive produced by Aronofsky featuring voices of Millie Bobby Brown, Jessica Chastain, and Patti Smith.
• “Spheres” made history as the first VR project ever acquired at Sundance, demonstrating McNitt’s track record in pioneering new storytelling formats.

Why this matters: The project breaks technological barriers that previously made certain narratives impossible to visualize, potentially opening new creative possibilities for filmmakers tackling sensitive or hard-to-capture subjects while maintaining artistic control over AI tools.