León & Cociña worked on Ari Aster's new film with Joaquin Phoenix

Artist duo León & Cociña worked together with a great team on Ari Aster's awaited new film with Joaquin Phoenix: "Beau is Afraid". This is not the first time they have worked together as Ari Aster has been part of the executive production team of the Chilean directors' award-winning short film "Los Huesos".

The film, directed by Ari Aster (Midsommar, Hereditary), will have its world premiere on 21 April 2023. Cristóbal León and Joaquín Cociña worked on a sequence in "Beau is Afraid" in which the protagonist is immersed in an animated world.

"We came to this project because Ari Aster saw "La Casa Lobo" (2018) and liked it a lot. This made him want to work as an executive producer on our short film "Los Huesos". Meanwhile, he invited us to collaborate in a sequence of his film. What we ended up doing was developing the look and animation for a very special sequence of Beau is Afraid," says Cristóbal León.

The duo took charge of the animations and visual development of a dreamlike sequence in the film. The work began two years ago, in the middle of the pandemic. The animations and designs were produced in Santiago and then integrated in the United States and Canada with the live-action material.

"León & Cociña" have become a reference in the Chilean audiovisual industry. "La Casa Lobo", an animated film inspired by the Colonia Dignidad case, won 20 nominations and numerous awards at festivals around the world. Last year they directed the music video for the song "Thin thing" by The Smile, the latest musical project by Thom York and Jonny Greenwood (Radiohead), and are currently working on the shooting of "Los Hiperbóreos", their next film that combines live-action and animation.

"We worked with an artist we admire a lot and ended up becoming friends after the production. This experience helped us to get a closer look on how a Hollywood production works, which was a great school. It also meant working from Chile with a very young and talented team," says Joaquín Cociña about the collaboration.

Publication date: 16 Feb '23