A U.S. Army pilot is shot down and declared killed in action. Her husband buries an empty casket. The tapes say otherwise. NIGHTBORNE is a 13-minute sci-fi horror film from director Neill Blomkamp — the first release from Barley Studios. Told as a documentary: interviews, recovered program footage, and the recordings of a scientist who walked out of a classified defense program that puts dead soldiers back on the battlefield. Every frame was generated in Seedance 2.0 — directed shot by shot by Neill Blomkamp, through prompts. The characters on screen carry the faces and voices of 32 real people, photographed and voice-recorded under likeness agreements. Concept art by human artists. NIGHTBORNE is a work of fiction. Set in the universe of Peter Watts' ECHOPRAXIA. Directed by Neill Blomkamp Produced by Steven St. Arnaud and Terri Tatchell Edited by Austyn Daines A Barley Studios Production In association with Havenhurst Entertainment https://www.barleystudios.ai https://x.com/barleystudiosai https://instagram.com/barleystudios #NeillBlomkamp #NIGHTBORNE #shortfilm