It’s a short film I created in the essay film category, where I revisit three testimonies from people who have witnessed UFOs. I comment on these accounts to explore how an unusual experience can influence an individual’s perception of themselves or how others perceive them, by projecting the strangeness of the experience onto the person. This can create a distance between them and their surroundings, potentially rendering them « exotic » in the sense described by Victor Segalen, an author who was deeply affected by his cultural encounters during his travels. Segalen sought to expand the meaning of exoticism beyond postcards, developing his definition around the sensation of everything that is other: different genders, people we don’t know well, animals, plants, the universe.

The film was presented at the Fey’Stival on September 9, 2023, and at the Le Réel en Vue festival in Thionville on November 25, 2023.