Darren Aronofsky, the famed filmmaker behind Black Swan and Requiem for a Dream, has never been one to play it safe with storytelling. His latest venture, Primordial Soup, partnered with Google DeepMind to explore the world of generative AI. Their debut project, an eight-minute short called Ancestra directed by Eliza McNitt, premiered at the Tribeca Festival on June 13, 2025.
Ancestra hits hard with a personal story pulled straight from McNitt’s life—her birth, when her mother’s fierce love became a cosmic lifeline to save her daughter, born with a hole in her heart. McNitt fed the AI her own baby photos and pictures taken by her late father, creating a newborn character and a visual style so deeply personal it feels like peering into her soul. “With Ancestra, I was able to visualize the unseen, transforming family archives, emotions, and science into a cinematic experience that feels both intimate and expansive,” McNitt said in a statement.
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Google DeepMind gave Primordial Soup early access to Veo 3, which churns out high-quality video from text prompts or images, and Flow, which knits scenes into seamless cinematic moments. But Ancestra wasn’t just AI doing the heavy lifting—McNitt worked alongside a 200-person crew of artists, animators, VFX wizards, and Google researchers, using storyboards and concept art to keep the AI focused on amplifying the story’s heart. “By training models on original concept art and hand-drawn storyboards, the collaborative process preserves emotional continuity and artistic integrity,” Primordial Soup and Google DeepMind noted.
Aronofsky, no stranger to tech-driven storytelling, sees AI as a natural evolution. “Filmmaking has always been driven by technology,” he said. “After the Lumière Brothers and Edison’s groundbreaking invention, filmmakers unleashed the hidden storytelling power of cameras. Today is no different.” His Primordial Soup venture aims to keep artists at the helm, mentoring emerging filmmakers like McNitt while refining AI tools through real-world feedback. Two more shorts are in development, each exploring new applications of Veo 3, though details remain under wraps.
McNitt’s prior work, the VR experience Spheres—executive produced by Aronofsky and voiced by Millie Bobby Brown, Jessica Chastain, and Patti Smith—marked her as a pioneer in immersive storytelling. Ancestra builds on that legacy, using AI to tackle practical challenges, like visualizing the birth of the universe or working with infant actors.
