Human Nature
Key Cast: Crista Alfaiate, João Vicente
Director: Mónica Lima
Producer: Filipa Reis, Luise Hauschild, Mariam Shatberashvili
Screenwriter: Gonçalo Branco, Mónica Lima
Cinematographer: Faraz Fesharaki
Composer: Gonçalo Sousa
The winner of the Rotterdam Ammodo Tiger Short Competition’s top prize is a touching portrait of shared uncertainty.
Stuck at home in their apartment, a couple trying (and failing) to get pregnant must sit with their trepidation about the future. Meanwhile, as spring morphs into summer, the man’s vegetable garden reaps small mercies and the pair contemplate bringing a child into an increasingly volatile world. Portuguese filmmaker Mónica Lima perfectly captures the languid stasis of COVID lockdowns – though what keeps the couple inside isn’t named. Personal and collective grief merge in this intimate, sensuous and evocative snapshot of unpredictable times, leavened by communal exchanges and seasonal gifts.