Like many filmmakers of his generation, Montrealer Aristomenis Tsirbas grew up watching Which. T. extra floorAnd the Back to the future And other popular science fiction classics from the 80s Timescape: Back to the dinosaursThe 55-year-old director wanted to revisit the genre in his own way by writing a family adventure movie that mixes time travel, flying saucers and dinosaurs.

Filmed in Montreal and Rodon in the fall of 2019. Timescape: Back to the dinosaurs It tells the story of Jason (Sofian Olinyuk), a young boy geek who accidentally discovers a mysterious flying saucer that has just landed in a forest near his home.

Upon entering the machine, he meets a girl Lara (Lola Rossignol-Arts), a girl who has just discovered the machine. By trying to understand how the UFO works, the two children will inadvertently turn on a function that allows them to travel back in time, and they will be promptly thrust into the age of the dinosaurs, at the beginning of their extinction.

‘When my product [David-Alexandre Coiteux] It gave me the idea to make a family movie, I thought what kind of movie I liked to watch myself when I was young,” Aristomenis Tsirbas stated, during a phone interview with register.

“I immediately thought of the sci-fi classics that characterized my childhood and adolescence. So I tried to revisit the genre by giving it a modern twist. There are elements of that in my film, with time travel, science fiction, humor, and archetypes. But in the end, my goal was He is writing a story about trust.During his adventure, Jason’s character must learn to trust others.

Benefiting from a modest budget for this type of production, Aristomenis Tsirbas shot the film in just 21 days with a small crew, mostly from Canada and Quebecois. A director who worked for several years in the field of visual effects, then spent more than two years refining post-production for his second feature film (After Battle of Tira).

“We all worked hard to maximize the film’s budget,” says the director. It was teamwork. Personally, I have gained a lot of experience over the past 30 years in visual effects and in Storyboard So I was able to use all that knowledge to make the movie.”

At GEMS Cameron School

Working in the field of visual effects, Aristomenis Tsirbas cut his teeth in the world of cinema. It was started in Montreal, his hometown.

“I started in visual effects here in Montreal, working at the 1996 International Auto Show!” He says laughing.

“The same year I moved to Los Angeles and it was the first project I worked on there Titanic by James Cameron. Then I participated in several projects, including: My favorite Mars (Disney) and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It was my way to get into the directing profession. The visual effects allowed me to put food on the table while I aspired to be a director. It is not the easiest way to get your way and may take a long time. But I loved working in visual effects. It’s an asset that serves me the most today.”

Aristomenis Tsirbas does not hide it: as a Canadian director trying to find his place in Hollywood, James Cameron remains his role model.

Aristomenis Tsirbas says of the director Titanic And the symbol picture.

“It is first and foremost the work ethic that I keep from him. He is very demanding of himself and his team members. It takes a lot of work and perseverance to carry out ambitious projects like his own. It is admirable to see what he has been able to do.”

Timescape: Back to the dinosaurs It was released yesterday in its original English version and its French dubbed version.