Eliza McNitt taps into maternal instincts
In a moving short film blending live-action and AI-generated footage, the Chromista director draws from her own experiences of childbirth, motherhood and trauma.
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Credits
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- Production Company Chromista
- Director Eliza McNitt
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Credits
View on- Production Company Chromista
- Director Eliza McNitt
- Executive Producer Darren Aronofsky
- Executive Producer Google/New York
- Executive Producer Ted Robbins
- Executive Producer Adina Birnbaum
- Executive Producer Justin Pollock
- Executive Producer David Schiavone
- Editor Google/New York
- Post Producer Google/New York
- Color Company 3/Los Angeles
- Colorist Joseph Bicknell
- Sound Design & Mix Q Department
- AI Google Creative Lab/New York
- Creative Director John P Soat
- Creative Director JR Schmidt
- Creative Director Benjamin Wiley
- Producer Dylan Golden
- Producer Justin Goncalves
- Producer Stephanie Simon
- Producer Habibatou Magassa
- Executive Producer Ari Handel
- Executive Producer Demis Hassabis
- Executive Producer Matthieu Lorrain
- Executive Producer Neil Parris
- Line Producer Ted Fitzgerald
- Production Designer Courtenay Williams
- Production Designer Kai Lee
- DP Minka Farthing-Kohl
- Assistant Editor Maria Lee
- Assistant Editor Jordan Zager
- Post Producer Abigail Smith
- VFX Supervisor Aaron Raff
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Credits
powered by- Production Company Chromista
- Director Eliza McNitt
- Executive Producer Darren Aronofsky
- Executive Producer Google/New York
- Executive Producer Ted Robbins
- Executive Producer Adina Birnbaum
- Executive Producer Justin Pollock
- Executive Producer David Schiavone
- Editor Google/New York
- Post Producer Google/New York
- Color Company 3/Los Angeles
- Colorist Joseph Bicknell
- Sound Design & Mix Q Department
- AI Google Creative Lab/New York
- Creative Director John P Soat
- Creative Director JR Schmidt
- Creative Director Benjamin Wiley
- Producer Dylan Golden
- Producer Justin Goncalves
- Producer Stephanie Simon
- Producer Habibatou Magassa
- Executive Producer Ari Handel
- Executive Producer Demis Hassabis
- Executive Producer Matthieu Lorrain
- Executive Producer Neil Parris
- Line Producer Ted Fitzgerald
- Production Designer Courtenay Williams
- Production Designer Kai Lee
- DP Minka Farthing-Kohl
- Assistant Editor Maria Lee
- Assistant Editor Jordan Zager
- Post Producer Abigail Smith
- VFX Supervisor Aaron Raff
With the help of Google DeepMind’s generative video model, Veo, director Eliza McNitt of Chromista and co-founder Darren Aronofsky have unveiled this beautifully crafted and cinematic short produced by Primordial Soup, titled Ancestra.
Blending emotive live-action performance with astoundingly realistic AI-generated imagery, the film tells the story of a mother who taps into ancient maternal instincts to help her survive a traumatic birth.
Working alongside over 200 artists and technologists, McNitt drew from her own near-death birth story, training the Veo model on personal archives, including baby photos and home videos shot by her late father.
“What I discovered is that prompting is actually an art form,” says McNitt. “You don’t just write a sentence and get a movie. It takes a team to find one powerful image. I’m so grateful to Darren and the entire Ancestra team for trusting me to tell this story, and to Chromista for giving me the space to explore this new kind of filmmaking with full creative support.”
