Light Years Away (French: Les Années lumière) is a 1981 film directed by Alain Tanner. It tells the story of a young man who meets an old man who says he was taught by birds how to fly and is building a flying machine. It is based on a novel by Daniel Odier.Although filmed in English and shot in Ireland, it was made by a Swiss director and produced by companies from France and Switzerland. The film won the Grand Prix Prize at the 1981 Cannes Film Festival.