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.

“The project is inspired by an evolution in human consciousness at the intersection of humanity, technology, spirituality and nature”

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.