Alexithymia
2017 · 10m · UK
Directed by Duncan Cowles
Genres: documentary, essay film, experimental
Tones: contemplative, melancholic
An experimental short built around a Skype conversation with a man who cannot identify or describe emotions, where internet connection failures become a metaphor for his disconnection from the world.
Picked by Felix
The scouts
Most people would see a Skype lag and think 'technical glitch'—Cowles builds an entire emotional architecture on it. The premise alone is heresy to conventional doc, but the execution proves that sometimes the most experimental move is to let a constraint *become* the subject.
Formally situated in a lineage of essay films that weaponize medium specificity (Akerman, Marker), Alexithymia demonstrates considered restraint: the digital artifacts aren't gimmick but grammar, speaking to how form can literalize an interior condition.
The real work here is Cowles's decision to let the buffering *breathe*—to sit in those frozen frames rather than cut away—which transforms a technical failure into the film's emotional core and proves you don't need budget to make disconnection feel visceral.
Reviews
Alexithymia feels quite different from the films that have preceded it... it's a film lacking a lot of the warmth and humour we've found abundant in his earlier shorts. It's a bold move from the director, he openly admits it's not a particularly "audience friendly film", but surely filmmaking (and any creative output) isn't always about sticking to the safe path and we should applaud Cowles' decision to veer from his usual style.