Aliens, immigrants - and Elio

Zoe Saldaña was the name on everyone’s lips earlier this year when she took home the Oscar for Netflix’s Emilia Perez. It capped a year of amazing performances including season 3 of The Lioness, an espionage thriller on Apple TV that showcases a mother who is also an operative going into the world's hotspots. What happens to the families and children of women who go to war is something we never think about, but the juggle of life and family is something most women do daily without acclaim. The balance of work and child rearing is one of the adult themes that runs through the animated film, Elio.

Saldaña has starred in three of the highest-grossing films of all time. You’ll remember her from Avatar, Star Trek and Guardians of the Galaxy, but the calibre of her work is way beyond franchise fodder. The uniting thread is her portrayal of strong women, who are more than the sum of their parts. When she married artist, Marco Perego, she not only took on her husband’s name, but he added her name too, becoming Marco Perego Saldaña while she became Zoe Saldaña Perego.

In her latest film, Elio, she lends her voice to the aunt who takes custody of her recently orphaned nephew. The boy is so desolate from the loss of his parents that he begs aliens to kidnap him, which they do, mistaking him for an ambassador of Earth. Elio is bright with imaginative optics that will appeal to a younger audience. The message is that everyone will find their people and those who shun you might not be worthy of your attention, so find those who value you. Elio could spark the next generation of astronauts; space travel and other worlds is the theme of the film. If you're an old fan of alien movies, you'll notice sly nods to classics like E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Animated film, which can take up to three years to shoot even with the leaps in technology, is an area where women have dominated as directors, as opposed to live action, where they make up just 22% of all directors, despite being 51% of the population.

Adrian Molina and Domee Shi directed Elio and welcomed Saldaña’s input. “As a mother of three boys, she was open about her insecurities. Women wrestle with their triumphs and failures as parents. Zoe wasn’t afraid to infuse hers into her character, giving advice on dialogue and how to interact with children.”

Dressed in an ensemble of clashing colours, a mustard pencil skirt and a billowing brick blouse paired with flat shoes, her hair in a messy chignon, Saldaña, who's of Dominican heritage, told the audience at the Los Angeles premiere why she was attracted to the role. The film premiered at the height of US President Donald Trump’s campaign promise to round up illegal aliens — alien being a term America uses to describe all immigrants. With the National Guard on the streets of LA, police helicopters filling the air, and black-and-white police cars zooming down streets in convoys of eight or more, lights ablaze, Saldaña, an activist on many fronts, addressed the immigrant status of the animated family. “I found it beautiful that they're children of immigrants with wide dreams and great expectations. Olga is trying to bestow that to her nephew who she has to mother. She’s so smart.”

Aware that an international audience would be hearing her words, she addressed the political hot potato obliquely. The topics of inclusion and the focus on an immigrant family were decided at Elio’s inception three years earlier. That the film’s release coincides with an anti-immigrant fervour is coincidental. Saldaña adds, “It doesn't go past me that sometimes you accept moments and opportunities in your life not knowing that they are going to be significant to something that we may be facing today as a nation, as Americans. Now, more than ever, showcasing this ambitious Dominican-Mexican family resonates. I’m appreciative of Pixar continuously being so inclusive and bringing that inclusive mindset to audiences. It's so important.”