Director Gaspar Noé is no stranger to Cannes Film Festival. Last year, he premiered his shocking film Climax and this year he is back with Lux Æterna – a 51-minute creation about the art of filmmaking. Yes, it’s all very meta. 

The Argentine-born French director is taking it back to basics in this film-style essay all about the actor’s craft – starring a large host of creatives, including Abbey Lee Kershaw, Felix Maritaud, and Mica Arganaraz. Selected for the midnight session project at the festival, the film was presented by Saint Laurent as the fourth part of its international art project SELF – previously spotlighting Japanese photographer Daidō Moriyama. 

Under Anthony Vaccarello’s creative direction, the Saint Laurent designer commissioned Noé to direct SELF04 with actresses Béatrice Dalle and Charlotte Gainsbourg. “We talked about experimental movies from the 60s and 70s, especially the ones from Kenneth Anger. The only thing I asked him was to improvise a story,” Vaccarello noted about working with Noé. He also revealed: “filming it with Béatrice and Charlotte was one of my inner darkest fantasies.”

Watch a teaser of the film below.