Papaya is an animation that offers an optimistic portrayal of the natural ecological chain. Through the film, audiences gain insight into the complex and interdependent processes within the soil, where plants, fungi, and animals each play their roles, nourishing and sustaining one another in remarkable ways. While the film does acknowledge the negative impact of human industrialisation on the environment, its fundamentally affirmative creative vision runs throughout. The film adopts an inventive visual language to inspire viewers to have faith in their own potential to protect biodiversity.

The film comes from a personal time in the director’s life, shaped by motherhood and a changing world. Taking nearly seven years to reach audiences, it turns everyday moments into a gentle visual story. Eschewing dialogue entirely, Papaya shows a world guided by perception rather than narration. This idea was derived from the director Kellen’s experience of parenting, where she discovered how sounds could play an irreplaceable role in the initial stages of children’s neuroplasticity and critical thinking. Hence, through a carefully composed interplay of sound, texture, and movement, the film leads audiences to immersively experience the journey alongside its central figure: a seed discovering its place in an interconnected ecosystem. Visually, the film is based on research spanning infant cognitive development, soil microbiology, poetry, and artistic traditions from Burle Marx to Matisse.

After the festival ended, we caught up with Priscilla Kelle and discussed the animation in great detail.

View of the Arts: Could you share the inspiration behind this animation?

Priscilla Kelle: The idea for Papaya emerged from many fragmented perceptions and feelings. I had just finished directing the animated TV series (Vivi Viravento, 2017) and was going through a period of professional slowdown, doing temporary work as a graphic designer while dedicating myself to the first months of my son’s development (from pregnancy to breastfeeding and daily care). From afar, I also observed the political changes and how much they impacted my own life as a woman and mother, feeling somewhat powerless in the face of them. I found some relief from the routine in small things, such as cultivating a vegetable garden and collecting art and craft references; two of my passions at the time, in addition to the joy of playing with my baby and watching him grow. Thus, I began to imagine the concept of an animated series for babies, very graphic, almost abstract.

VOA: This is a non-dialogue film. With that in mind, sound and music become incredibly important. Could you tell us about your choices and any special considerations regarding the sound design?

PK: I felt that the soundscape, as well as the visual aspects of the sets, would help the viewer discover the world along with the seed’s journey, guided by its perceptions. Without words, the story called for certain sounds, used selectively, such as flowing water, crickets, birds, and wind in the leaves, to expand the experience to the sensory realm; warmth, fear, magic, and chaos. Soundtrack director Talita Del Collado composed the music based on the moods of each sequence, using sound elements that evoked this nature. Then, the sound editors at Submarino Fantástico and voice director Melissa Garcia, in a delicate and meticulous process, worked with minimalist scoring.

VOA: How long did the production take, from preparation to completion?

PK: It took almost 7 years! In June 2018, we named the project “Papaya” and began developing the script. We finished post-production in March 2025. Most of this time, until 2023, the film was in pre-production.

VOA: The visual style stands out as whimsical and very unique, using geometric shapes and blocks of colour to create depth and a sense of three-dimensional space. Given the highly advanced animation technology, why did you choose to stick with a more graphic, minimalist way of telling the story?

PK: Observing my son’s development and based on everything I’ve studied about cognitive and visual development of babies, I felt that children could benefit from more abstract audiovisual experiences that allowed for less passive interaction, respecting the initial stages of their neuroplasticity and critical thinking. That’s where the idea for an almost abstract series for babies came from, and where the focus of my visual research lay. However, when I started developing the script for Papaya, I understood that it was a slightly more complex story. I lowered my gaze to the ground, trying to see the world as a seed newly sprouted from the fruit, and I felt that its point of view would have a short reach, and therefore, minimalist abstraction also fit there, reinforcing its diminutive and naive perspective.

VOA: How did you go about conceptualising and visualising the underground soil world?

PK: Because I enjoy growing plants, I’m very curious about certain aspects of soil microbiology. This led me to discover studies on how fungi and plant roots communicate through the mycelial network. As Papaya, the protagonist was a seed, sometimes rooting itself, the net would be a way to receive new information and to send messages without moving itself from its place. The functioning of this network, and even its appearance, resembles the synapses in our nervous system. This prompted me to seek a more playful and symbolic graphic representation, which I found in embroidery and lace.

VOA: Given that the story is set in relatively fertile soil, I’m curious how many plant species appear in the film in total. What field research or background studies did you and your team conduct during the scriptwriting phase?

PK: Ha ha ha! There are many. I never counted them. The inspiration for the forest biology in the film was the diversity of the Atlantic Forest, but I also explored other fields for their shapes in the abstract paintings of landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx, and the paper collages of Henry Matisse and other contemporary artists like Beatriz Milhazes. I did a lot of research on poetry, as well as I read a few scientific studies regarding neurobiology and interspecies communication. The idea behind the art direction was to integrate the beings (plants, fungi, and animals) as much as possible with each other and with the mineral, metaphysical, and magical environment.

VOA: The collage and cutouts made from real plant photos are an interesting highlight of the film. What was the idea behind this design choice?

PK: I felt that the film shouldn’t only show the negative impact of humanity on Earth. When all beings were joining forces to make everything greener, I wanted to bring the viewer back to reality with hope for a better future. The photos of real fruits and plants mixed with vectorial drawings symbolize the possibility of the human species collaborating in the preservation of biodiversity, of which we are also a part.

VOA: I especially loved the final “life flashing before its eyes” scene and the sewer party sequence – they’re very imaginative. Is there a particular scene or sequence in the film that is your personal favourite?

PK: Thank you! It was a very difficult scene to make at every stage of production. I think this scene is also one of my favorites because it brings together many of my personal references, ranging from the biological materiality of roots growing and nourishing themselves from the earth and returning their energy to the earth, to the metaphor of the transcendental embroidery web that stores the wisdom we inherited from our ancestors and which we find a way to perpetuate, since each individual is a link and knot in this tapestry where we are all connected. But I also love the breastfeeding scene, for its tenderness, and the moment when the germinating seed decides to be different and pulls its roots from the soil, because that’s when it changes its destiny.

Written and interviewed by Jane Wei

Featured image courtesy of Priscilla Kelle

_{View of the Arts is an online publication dedicated to film, music, and the arts, with a strong focus on the Asian entertainment industry. As we continue to grow, we aim to deepen our coverage of Asian music while remaining committed to exploring and celebrating creativity across the global arts landscape.}