Fallen Shadows

The animated short Fallen Shadows was screened for the first time on September 9th 2008 at the Prada Broadway Epicenter in New York City.

Known for extensive collaborations in all aspects of visual culture, Miuccia Prada developed this work in conjunction with the release of the Fall/Winter 2008 women’s wear collection.

Fallen Shadows continues Prada's engagement with experimental work in film, animation, architecture, art and sound design. The animation - undertaken together with director James Lima - experiments with cutting-edge technology. Computer Motion Capture and Cyber-Scanning - in which an entire body is scanned and recorded, rendering a completely animated character - have been employed here for the first time.

The film draws inspiration from Buñuel, Dalí, Duchamp, and Escher evoking Film Noir, Surrealism and Futurism in a striking, cinematic form. And while employing the latest high-end computer software and technology, it remains romantic, tragic, and elemental.

The film depicts the story of a woman and her shadow. “The Shadow is more alive and expressive than the woman,” Lima notes, “She is the sub-conscience, the dream, the soul, and it is the journey of self-discovery with the sensations of the city that confronts her…and us.”

Fallen Shadows features a new sound track by the critically-acclaimed Antony and the Johnsons, the New York-based group lead by Antony Hegarty. A cult favorite known for its lush and haunting sound, the band won the Mercury Music Prize for their second album I Am a Bird Now (2005).