El aliento de Celia
2019 · 15m · España
Directed by Miguel Ángel Barroso
Genres: drama, romance, surrealism
Tones: sensual, surreal, theatrical
In the labyrinth of love, two women duel with their feelings — one guided by reason, the other by the heart — as the game branches toward a ritual of heightened passion.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
Love that it refuses to pick a lane — is this a surrealist mind game? A sensual thriller? A theatrical fever dream? — but the premise gets too precious and the execution doesn't earn the weirdness the way a truly subversive short would.
Barroso constructs a formally rigorous duel between reason and desire, letting the ritualistic mise-en-scène and theatrical staging carry what could be a soap opera into something genuinely considered—this is the kind of craft that rewards close attention and festival discourse.
The sensual sound design and breathing motif anchor what could've been overcooked abstraction into something tactile and human, a single sonic choice that makes the conceptual framework actually *feel* rather than just look intentional.