Aphelion is a short animated film, made with stop motion, hand drawn animation, and 35mm footage from the NASA archives. Aphelion is a 6 minute science fiction narrative featuring two characters, the pilot (a human) and the biologist (an alien) of the ship, and their mission to discover the mystery behind a strange shape in the stars. Along the way they grow closer, communicating without dialogue to share commonalities, understand their differences, and work together to keep their spaceship floating. In the vast expanse of space, these characters experience wonder in the quotidian, an appreciation for simple pleasures, and as their journey comes to a close, the begin to find the sublime in each other’s company.

The film is based in research into how science fiction works as a narrative tool to critique social constructs, queer art and issues of representation in mainstream media, what is means to experience something sublime, and how communication and understanding can expand our viewpoints.