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A new space race is born between NASA and the ESA when Charlie Brownsville, Hank Morrison, and Dr. Casey Cook compete against an artificially intelligent robot to find out what's up there on the red planet. 'Mars' follows these three astronauts on the first manned mission to our galactic neighbor. On the way they experience life threatening accidents, self doubts, obnoxious reporters, and the boredom of extended space travel.

This romantic comedy is told in the playful style of a graphic novel- using a unique animation process that director Geoff Marslett developed specifically for the film. Underneath the silliness Mars is also an exploration of exploration. Why do we want to know what is out there? How do we react to what we find? Is it really that important? And where does love fit into the whole thing?

written and directed by GEOFF MARSLETT
produced by ANISH SAVJANI, ROBERT HOWELL, JAVIER BONAFONT and GEOFF MARSLETT

MARS features a talented cast of actors, musicians, and animators, including:
MARK DUPLASS (Humpday, The Puffy Chair, Greenberg, Cyrus)
ZOE SIMPSON (Deadly Obsession, Maidenhead)
PAUL GORDON (Motorcycle, Gretchen)
CYNTHIA WATROS (LOST, The Drew Carey Show)
MICHAEL DOLAN (Biloxi Blues, Hamburger Hill)
LIZA WEIL (The Gilmore Girls, Little Fish Strange Pond)
JAMES KOCHALKA (musician and comic artist)
HOWE GELB (Giant Sand)
KINKY FRIEDMAN (musician, politician, actor, and TV personality)

as well as appearances by Don Hertzfeldt, Nicole Atkins, Jonna Juul-Hansen, Charissa Allen, Elena Araoz, Jerm Pollet, and Garry Peters.

With a soundtrack written by Howe Gelb and including performances by Howe Gelb, Giant Sand, Neko Case, Victoria Williams, Jason Lytle, Kristen Hersh, John Convertino, Bill Elm, Mark Smoot, Nic Koller, and more.

Animation by SWERVE PICTURES and SELF ASSEMBLY FILMS.

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check out the film on the Internet Movie Database
and a complete list of links to reviews, interviews, and coverage of MARS here.

some recent press on the film's production:
POV magazine,
Filmmaker Magazine
PBS
The Washington Post
The Wall Street Journal
National Geographic
Wired