Story & Concept
Tukuy follows Sacha, a mother tree and guardian of the Yungas, who has been rooted for thousands of years. Her world collapses when her beloved Lapacho tree dies and takes all color from her life. Lost in grief, she meets Diablito, a good carnival devil who briefly reminds her of joy, pushing her to question her purpose. Now, she must decide whether to stay where she is or take this painful and beautiful step into the unknown to follow the dance of life.
Google Earth picture from both biomes, with an approximate distance of 14.55 miles between them.
Tukuy is a story set in Jujuy, Argentina. Living there, I was amazed by the fact that there were two very different biomes so close to each other: the green, humid, calm, and silent Yungas home of a rich flora and fauna, and the orange, dry, crazy Quebrada, host town of the traditional north Argentinian carnivals.
I wondered, what if these two places came to life and met each other? What would they learn from the other? What would be the dynamics and challenges?
That’s how Sacha and Diablito were born.
Sacha and Diablito's early concepts
Sacha
Sachamama means mother tree in Quechua. She was born as the embodiment of real mother trees that fuel the forests and support the trees in them. She was also born from the question, “She takes care of everyone, but who takes care of her?” A nostalgic, ritualistic, and grounded character. She knew her place and didn’t dare to wish for something else, because she never knew there was any.
Diablito
Diablito is a carnival devil kid that represents the Pujllay. This is not a bad devil as known in other cultures, but an Andean representation of it. In Jujuy, the figure is a rag doll that is unearthed at the start of the carnival for the period of nine days. It represents a permission to temporarily "let go" and is later re-buried at the end of the celebration.
The goal of all carnival devils is to make people dance and be happy, but Diablito finds his duty is in trouble when he meets a nostalgic, unable-to-dance creature in the middle of the Yungas.
Lapacho
The Lapacho tree is a species of tree native to Argentina. It can have many colors like green, yellow, or white. But a majestic pink-flowered lapacho happened to grow in front of sacha, becoming the center of her life.
Sacha's Magic
For the magic, we wanted something that could illustrate Sacha's connection to the forest and Lapacho through her roots. The idea was to emulate the mycelium network, which are the tiny threads also known as the Wood Wide Web. We present Sacha as the mother tree of the forest. Mother trees are the oldest and strongest trees, their roots run deeper and spread further, allowing them to reach water and nourish younger saplings and trees that need it. They also send resources like carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus to any tree in need. That is why, when her beloved Lapacho begins to die, she channels all her resources into it, depriving herself and the rest of the forest of what sustains them.
Posters
Responsible for: Ideations, character posing, value studies, set dressing, rock textures in Diablito's poster, compositing, and graphic design.
Color Scripts
These are some of the color scripts for our film
Extra Tasks
As director and visual development lead, 80% of the work is giving clear direction and feedback. For this, I had to do mood boards, drawovers, paintovers, and deep research.
SACHA'S GUIDES
DIABLITO'S GUIDES
ENVIRONMENT GUIDES
LIGHTING AND COMP GUIDES
Comp paint-overs and guides for some of yhe shots,
Our trailer
The Tukuy team is honored to be working with Walter Arjona, a musician from Jujuy, for our soundtrack. If you are wondering what Tukuy sounds like and what music inspires us, follow our Spotify playlist here!
If you have the password, Watch our film HERE!