So, last night the accumulated Heathen tribe gathered at our Offsite Film, Drum, and Violin Headquarters for food and cinema; this week’s pick was The Science of Sleep.

Without really trying to, we’ve actually managed to track the intertwining careers of writer/director Michel Gondry and his sometime collaborator Charlie Kaufman. “Sleep” is a Gondry-only joint, but on two prior occasions Gondry has directed Kaufman scripts: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which we (and all right-thinking people) loved, and Human Nature, which we’ve missed somehow. It doesn’t take a particularly astute observer to note Gondry’s interest in the subconscious and unconscious aspects of our minds.

Kaufman, with other directors, is responsible for such gems as Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, so it’s sort of fun to use these data points to plot out what constitutes Gondry+Kaufman, and what elements occur only in their solo work; a clear element in common is an interest in the idea of consciousness, both above and below the awareness water-line.

This game gets easier when one factors in Gondry’s short-form work in music videos, most famously with Bjork, for whom he did “Human Behavior” and (our favorite) Bachelorette. He’s also responsible for the Foo Fighters clip for Everlong, which includes a visual shared with Stephane’s dreams in “Science of Sleep.”

(Something we didn’t realize: Gondry directed David Chappelle’s Block Party, which only intensifies our desire to see it.)

In any case, Gondry has two more bits coming up, though neither involve Kaufman. Set for 2008 release is Be Kind Rewind, starring Jack Black and Mos Def. (Click through for a synopsis and you’ll understand our enthusiasm; squint a bit and you can still see Gondry’s obsession with perception and consciousness.) Following that, presumably, is the adaptation of Rudy Rucker’s Master of Space and Time, currently said to be “in development.”

For his part, Kaufman will direct his own work for the first time Synecdoche, New York, also in development.

We can’t wait.