Shot in the Arabian desert with a haunting backdrop of the Burj Khalifa, Universal Machine is set in a post-apocalyptic world where a gifted young girl must find a way to understand and overcome a violent encounter with a life-like android.

New York-based director and artist Daniel Askill enlisted a host of international creative talent for this project. Renowned American minimalist composer Philip Glass scores an ominous orchestral piece undercut by a stirring mezzo-soprano. Belgian choreographer and Beyonce’s 2017 Grammy performance director Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui planned the elaborate  fight sequences, while the android was CGI mapped to Japanese dancer Tzuki Kozuki. The star of the film, Evnika Sadvakassova, is a boxer who gained the Guiness World Record for the most full contact punch strikes by a female in one minute. She won this accolade in 2018 at the age of 11. 

NOWNESS reached out to Askill to discuss the themes present in his latest project:

What inspired you to write this story?

This film is actually from the third act of a feature length project that I have been developing also called Universal Machine. The feature is a science fiction mythology. It is inspired by the possibility of a spectacular evolution in human consciousness at the intersection of humanity, technology, spirituality and nature. 

Why was it important for the android to resemble Evnika? 

At this moment in the feature project there is a tipping point between humanity and technology. The young woman is beginning to harness all the power of her android counterpart and the android is beginning to feel human compassion… They are beginning to evolve into something greater. 

Philip Glass is one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. How does his music enhance your project?

Last year I was approached by Visionaire and Anthony Roth Costanzo to create a film for this piece by Philip Glass. Philip Glass has been an inspiration to me since my father gave me an album of his when I was 14. So when I was given the opportunity to make a film with his music it was a dream come true.

Considering that Dubai is a city caught between technology and nature was the location significant to the messaging in the film?

Yes. The feature film is a race across a landscape that moves from the ocean to the rainforest, into the desert and then on to a metropolis. This scene from the third act happens right where the desert meets the city. Dubai is one of the few places that has exactly that—a surreal metropolis that rises up out of the desert.

How far has mankind come in its journey with AI? Are we still at battle or have we found peace?

I think the answer to where humanity’s relationship with technology will land is very much an open one. But one of the ideas at the heart of this film is that there is a future we should all be striving for. A future where the ultimate fate of humanity’s relationship with technology is an evolved one grounded in peace and compassion.