Locarno review: Lost Touch (2025)
Pardi di Domani
National Competition
A part of Pardi di Domani’s National Competition at this year’s Locarno Film Festival, Lost Touch follows Amelia, a space explorer stranded on a damaged spaceship which is about to crash into a planet because of its gravitational pull. Justine Klaiber’s science-fiction short animation has no dialogue, but it conveys so much meaning about grief, loneliness and nature through classic narrative structure. The expressive two-dimensional graphics are more detailed than others, although still minimalistic, placing the story in the spotlight.
Death can be both heartbreaking and deceiving. When the computer, the only voice heard throughout the film, states that an accident is imminent due to the weight of the spacecraft, the young girl refuses to give up her precious garden carried by the vessel. Not because some kind of terraforming mission might depend on it – the reason is much more subjective than that. A person close to her is buried there, under all the leaves and plants and grass. Still, along with the flashbacks and photographs, it feels more alive than ever for someone dealing alone with the crippling immensity of the universe. One last memory of a world long gone, threatening to disappear for good once it hits the ground.
But then, something mystical happens. White flecks start flying in an environment dominated chromatically by shades of blue, pink and purple. Otherworldly vocals and divine melodies accompany the glittering visuals. Life flows from the greenhouse vegetation to the decomposed organic matter and vice versa, in a never-ending energy exchange. A familiar entity appears. Calm. Loving. Reassuring. A touch reminiscent of beautiful old times, giving strength. A warm goodbye, revealing everything is alright. Past, present and future collide and, for a fleeting moment, become one.
And Amelia can finally let it go.
Country: Switzerland
Year: 2025
Runtime: 12′
Director|Screenplay|Editing: Justine Klaiber
Producer: Asako Film GmbH, Anja Kofmel, Frances McStea
Co-producer: SRF Swiss Radio and Television, SRG SSR
Commissioning Editor: Gabriela Bloch Steinmann
Development Producer: Lucerne School of Animation, MA Animation
Animation: Julia Krummenacher, Tamara Milošević, Dario Marti, Frederic Siegel, Justine Klaiber
Animatic Edit Consultant: Thais Odermatt
Compositing: Daniel Harisberger, Justine Klaiber
Sound Design & Mix: Thomas Gassmann, Noah Lüthi
Music: Mirjam Skal
Voices: Stella Gassmann, Justine Klaiber, Mirjam Skal
Film Accounting: Schwarze Zahlen, Markus Lüscher
