Goodnight, Lamby: Dustin Yellin presents a hybrid live-action and AI short film in Cannes

Dustin Yellin debuts Goodnight, Lamby at Cannes, a hybrid short film produced by Darren Aronofsky using Google DeepMind AI tools and starring Paul Rudd.

The 79th Cannes Film Festival includes in its Cannes Classics selection, in the Tribute / First Film category, Goodnight, Lamby, a fifteen-minute short film by Dustin Yellin for his directorial debut. The Brooklyn-based artist, known for his monumental glass sculptures dubbed frozen cinema that freeze thousands of images, objects, and three-dimensional collages, here transposes this universe into a film blending live-action, animation, and generation assisted by Google DeepMind's tools.

The project is produced by Darren Aronofsky and Justin A. Gonçalves, with Nick St. Pierre (@nickfloats), a prominent figure in the generative AI community, serving as executive producer. The cast includes Paul Rudd as the father, Chris Rock as "Copernipus," and Zia Copernicus Yellin, the director's three-year-old daughter, playing herself. The original song is by Maggie Rogers. The narrative follows young Zia, who discovers her comfort blanket Lamby has disappeared and dives into her father's surreal sculptures through oceans, caves, and space to find it.

The world premiere is scheduled for the week of May 19-26. A Hybrid Futures panel bringing together Dustin Yellin and Google DeepMind is also planned at the Film Market to discuss the animation and AI aspects of the project. No official trailer has been released yet.